Moon Butterfly - The Refugee Princess
by Fireware
Summary: Echo Creek, 1992. A city that is, by all means, absolutely normal, and nothing remotely interesting happens whatsoever. In fact, so normal, that Comet Butterfly thinks of it as the perfect place for her daughter to lay low, while the Queen tries to negotiate an end to the Monster Mewnian conflict. Conspiracies, urban myths, cultural shocks and feelings awaits the young heiress...
1. Prologue

**Hello! It's interesting to see how Young Moon stories seems to be almost non-existent, so I hope I can remedy that!**

 **It's my first fic, and English isn't my first language, so I already apologize in advance. Star vs The Forces of Evil is owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney, yadda yadda, I have no ownership whatsoever.**

 **Let's get the show on the road!**

* * *

 **Prologue - Moon comes to Earth**

Moon Butterfly was a teenager.

Sure, she was the heir princess of the Kingdom of Mewni, responsible for the lives of the hundreds of thousands of subjects as far as her eyes could see, wearer of a millenar crown and, roughly some minutes ago, currently ""celebrating her 14th birthday"", bearer of a magical wand capable of bending reality to her own whim, coupled with the wise mentor of generations of queens before her, and their knowledge and spells, at her fingertips.

A small smile graces her as her thoughts, at least momentarily, reaches to the moments minutes ago, facing her parents, as she swore the oath, and finally was handed over the wand.

The surprise and the small jump she made as the wand actually, like a small larvae morphing into a butterfly, changed from her mother's ribbons and metal rod to a, much more pleasant in her mind, but mother won't have her speaking such things out loud in her lifetime, wooden base similar to the ancient wands, with the tip becoming a blue, vibrant and glowing heart crystal.

Of course, princesses aren't supposed to giggle in delight or happiness over such things, they were supposed to be serious. A massive responsibility, and a sign of her growth as a future heir. She took the wand and the responsibility of it with the same dignity and composure as she took her day-to-day, and simply the moment she had the door to her room closed, she would allow herself a more...enthusiastic response.

Of course, being told immediately after said ritual that she would be leaving Mewni for a year had put quite a damper in her well controlled excitement. She wanted nothing more than to argue how unfair that was, and how the Kingdom of Mewni couldn't have her princess out on "asylum", but…

The word of the Queen, her mother, is final. Moon knows better than to stand up against her.

She was a teenager! She was supposed to be telling the Royal Weaver the specifications for her dress for the coming Silver Bell Ball, going for the flowers field to replace the ones wilting in her room, and meeting up with the two knights who would immediately talk about how many generations their family served Mewni, the feats of their great-great-great-great grandparents, or whatever other stories they told as if it would impress her.

The fact she was a heiress was secret to no one, and nor should it be! She's very much proud of her lineage, and her role in Mewni! That's exactly why these kind of people...just rubs her in the _wrong_ way.

For those kind of people, she's just Princess Moon. She's interested in flowers, dresses, dances, and overblown, glorified tales of ancestors dead before her great-great grandmother was even a twinkle in their eye, and how they would leech and suck on this pride like a parasite, to make themselves look bigger than what they are.

Is this supposed to impress her, Moon Butterfly?

Although, to be fair, at least the squires are enthusiastic. Nobles were just throughtly _false._

Mildrew comes to mind, her once pleasant smile twisting in a small scowl. Again, she's a teenager, she very much can enjoy a good sight when one is provided, and she won't ever be the first nor the last to say, Count Mildrew is very much a sight for sore eyes.

That is, as long as he didn't open his mouth of his. Then she's tempted to break decorum for once, and gag him with the fan he so loves to use to cool himself, and create even more breeze to blow that ridiculous, silky, lustrous hair of his.

All about him. How he's strong, smart, beautiful, how he was hand-picked between the most beautiful princess of their land, with the most beautiful man, to create the most beautiful of all beauties in all of Mewni, and beyond the Multiverse's Verse.

That's a quote. That's a quote from a living mewnian being.

And she thought _she_ repeated words when she was nervous.

Other Princes weren't much better; sure, none of them were _Mildrew_ , but at the same time they all just saw her as a Princess. Someone they need to impress, to show-off themselves, all with the intention of marriage.

And Princesses...less said about them the better. Judgemental Harlots, the lot of them. Using her as a platform for comparisons the moment they traded eyes together, how they would look her up and down like some sort of "Find the Seven Errors" puzzle, and then force a smile and ask how she was doing.

And of course, she would reply as politely as she was taught to do.

Dishonesty is simply something she despised.

The only ones that didn't see her as an opportunity were…

Dirt and River.

The thought of her two friends somehow spoiled her mood even more, as she sat on her bed and released a pent up sigh. The jiggle on her bed certainly wasn't unnoticed, as she hears the book opening, and a throat cleaning.

"Coin for your thoughts, Princess?"

Moon looks to the diminutive blue man currently floating in a lazy position, glancing at her while cleaning his ear with his little finger.

"My thoughts are not important; if it is for the safety of the kingdom, and Mother's peace of mind, I must accept her decision." Moon said, gripping her dress. The action clearly didn't go unnoticed by him it seems, if the slight raise of his eyebrow was any indication, before he simply shrugged, turning away from her.

"Normally I would start your lessons, but you clearly aren't in the mindset for it. We'll begin tomorrow, then!"

Moon winced a bit, gripping the edge of her nightwear tighter. "I'm perfectly willing for any lesson, sir Glossaryck."

"Kid, you're leaving your home behind for a year. Last thing I need, is you blasting a wall on the castle, and making your mother just drop you at night."

"I...wouldn't do that." She said, under the breath, but Glossaryck didn't reply, simply returning to her book. It was cold, she had to admit, but she understood where that came from...she really wasn't in the best state of mind. Looking through her window, she saw Mewni at night, her company being the faint sounds of the busy streets, the wind, and the rustling of leaves.

Well, it wouldn't do, regardless of her opinion, she needed to be ready for the next day.

And so, Moon Butterfly closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

* * *

As the servants packed her belongings, Moon was allowed to walk around the castle after breakfast, an offer she bittersweetly accepted, trying to commit as much of it as she could to her own memory. She noticed so many small details she didn't before, like the nooks and small bumps in the suits of armor , the small wrong details in the paintings on the halls, or small cracks alongside the stairs, and how she would notice particular ones, in particular the ones 7th and the 4th step, as they would actually get wider as she would put her weight on.

That was actually something she would need to direct to Mother soon, that could cause a nasty accident.

She wanted to go out, at least to personally talk with Dirt and River, but even that was denied of her; Mother wanted the news of her travel to be as smothered as she could, to lower the risks of any...infiltration.

How would monsters even infiltrate the castle, would they put a mask or something?!

The frustration kept piling up, but she, dutifully, endured, wearing a neutral expression and cordially greeting any of the castle keepers, the high majority of them completely unaware she would even be leaving…

The fact a monster monarchy even existed surprised the young princess, who grew awash in tales of Monsters being savage, remorseless beings, that would only band together to bring even more misery to unfortunate Mewnians in their path. What kind of monarchy would even be useful to such vile beings? She shuddered at the thought, before the telltale sounds of hoofs clacking against marble floors brought her interest, and with that, a brief respite from her foreboding thoughts.

Well, at least there was someone she could at least give her proper farewells. She couldn't help but smile broadly as her trusty pig-goat, Lil' Chauncey came in, hopping as always. Normally she would be out, but she figured her mother allowed at least this mercy, and she wouldn't be one to look at a gift horse in the mouth.

Or pig-goat, in this case. Or neither look at her mouth, really, it smells absolutely dreadful. In fact, she'll simply hug it tightly, and vent a lot; the analogy is pretty much lost on her.

"Oh, Chauncey, what am I to do? I-I can't bring River, or Dirt? How's earth even supposed to be?" She went to hug the pig-goat, uncaring about the possible implications of where they probably were rolling around minutes ago.

"Mother said I should find a school, or whatever equivalent, but I don't know even their language! Or how they dress? It's probably a farm dimension, if their name is as bland as Earth! Earth, Chauncey!" She hugs her pet even tighter, almost crushingly so. "Who names their kingdom that?!"

Chauncey was one of the few people the young princess would allow herself to vent her frustration, most likely because didn't understand anything, and would just be there, comforting in her own, bleating, odd-smelling way; she could appreciate silent hearing, and as great of her opinion on her two friends are, Dirt would probably speak some eloquent speech, and River would want to punch the problem, even if the problem couldn't be solved like that!

She allows herself a small giggle as she remembers River's antics. And Dirt's sharp wit and eloquence. Oh, how she would terribly miss them both. And Mewni.

For the second time today, Moon Butterfly closed her eyes, and kept in comfortable silence.

* * *

"Are you sure you got everything, dear?"

"Yes, mother." She replied, quietly...what could she say?

"...dear I know it's harsh, but you know I'm doing this because I love you, right?" Moon turned away, speaking through her teeth.

Silence, before she responded, in the same earlier tone. "Yes, mother."

Both of them were standing, next to each other, near the carriage that would take her away; Moon tried to dress as casually as she could, a baby pink dress with poofy mutton sleeves, with with red vest on top, and simple white gloves; Her mother, Comet, got close to her, before crouching and giving her a quick hug; Moon's eye shooting in surprise, before softening and hugging back. She understood the why, but it still hurt…

It hurt a lot…

A cough interrupted the Mother's anguish, and the daughter's self-pity. A tall, bronze-skinned man stepped forth, his hair and cape blowing against a simple breeze as if it was a strong gust, his eyes immediately zeroing on Moon, completely spoiling her earlier mood, for better or for worse; Count Mildrew, son of the Viscount Fabio, and Countess Lilin. Oh, and grandmaster, sole member and acting champion in the art of spoiling the mood.

Good to know he still got it.

As the Count immediately hugged her, and went on his overly dramatic recounting of her tragedy, the unfairness of it all, and how he would move mountains and boulders to bring justice to her unfair asylum, she just got reminded why they broke up.

"Thank you for your conceeern…!" The Princess slowly pushed her infuriating ex away, finally getting some time to breath. "...thank you for your concern, Count Mildrew. But, it is not an asylum...it's simply to learn how to use my magic."

She glances at her mother, who was currently chatting with the carriage driver. She releases a timid sigh, adjusting the frilly skirt, and putting on a belt, to holster her wand.

"In a place that my safety wouldn't worry my parents. You surely understand."

Earth. Some random dimension Hekapoo recommended. No magic, no monsters, no anything remotely dangerous for the heiress-to-be. How would such a world even work?

Focus.

Queen Comet Butterfly sighs, and nods "With monsters threatening our citizens, it wouldn't do for Moon to practice magic within the castle's surroundings. She's too valuable a target, and I think my heart couldn't take it if any...ill-intentioned monster got to her."

A heavy silence falls, before Moon simply moves away, heading towards the Carriage. She doesn't dare to look for Mother's clearly troubled expression, or Mildrew's clearly exaggerated, flabbergasted look. She spent time enough, and she really wants right now to just check the carriage's structure for the trip.

For once, at least for this moment, all she wants to do is to **go.**

* * *

With all said and done, it was time to go. Entering the carriage, and stealing one last glance of the Castle she lived all her life, she closes the door, and the carriage starts moving towards the portal, with her possession being simply some clothes, and enough gold to pay for expenses for this year, or so her mother thinks.

After all, mewni currency is well known in the multiverse after all, perhaps someone in Earth could trade if it was that odd of a Dimension where gold wasn't valuable, while she would be "Away to practice magic, so that Queen Comet can proceed the negotiations with a lighter heart."

Funny way to word Asylum.

And, for the final time in Mewni for a year, Moon Butterfly closed her eyes, the sounds of a portal crossing being the last she would hear from Mewni for now.

 **Hello again! Right now, this story's still in the works, I just wanted to post the proof of concept. I don't have a set schedule for updating, but I'll try to post as soon as I can, let me know what you think in the Reviews.**

 **So, for now Fireware, signing off!**


	2. Home away from Home

**Alright, so! First actual chapter! Finals sure are relentless, aren't they? Well, I won't take much of you guys time reading this Author's note, so!**

 **retrogunner7 - Thank you! You can definetly expect more, indeed.**

 **GuestreviewIforgottoapprove - Yes, Moon will definetly meet the Diazes, they're all in Echo Creek after all, aren't they?**

 **With all said, here's the first chapter! Star vs The Forces of Evil belong to Daron, and Disney. Please don't sue me.**

* * *

Chapter 1 - Home away from Home

Moon was ready for everything.

She, admittedly, wasn't really someone to travel across the multiverse. In fact, she would find a better use of her time to study about the past queens, Mewnian History, and listen to her mother's counsels regarding how to rule; this didn't make her many friends from other dimensions, or in Mewni really.

No, she was not a **nerd.** She was **responsible!**

So, being told she was moving to another dimension, far from Mewni, even if she was aware it was somehow similar, she prepared for the worse; after all, places like the Underworld and the Cloud Kingdom were part of Mewni..and fundamentally different.

A dark, brooding, twisted jungle, where she would have to explore ruins of the ancient civilization of this plane, and lead the survivors? Or perhaps, maybe, a sunken kingdom, the name being ironic when compared to the original descendants, where she would learn to live the way of the sunkeys, and decipher the mystery of the "true surface…"

Perhaps a lava sea separating islands of each other, chained together only with chains, and she's dropped in the most distant one, having to find a way to reach civilization with nothing but her wits and resilience.

Regardless of what comes, she'll be ready. She's Moon Butterfly, Princess of Mewni, and she'll not bow down for no monster nor struggle!

…

...

Or perhaps it's just a normal looking, if slightly odd Mewni. She is both disappointed her wild fantasies weren't true, and curious of where did they came from in the first place.

Figures.

* * *

Echo Creek was, honestly ...pleasantly looking, not really much different from Mewni carriage stopped at a small hill, overlooking the city itself; From the distance, Moon saw the small houses being a bigger part of the landscape,the young princess wondering how rich the rulers of this dimension must be, to build them with bricks rather than wood, even though as far as Moon's eye can see, there is plenty of woods around, with taller, rectangular buildings, kind of bland-looking, she can't lie...

Black roads seem to dot the scenario, and the further Moon's eye goes, the transition from small quiet neighborhood to taller, rectangular buildings in the distance takes shape...ah, this must be the residential distract, and the other must be the Kingdom one...However, one question does rise from her, as she analyzes the size of the buildings in the "Royal" district.

"Odd." She hummed a bit, turning to the carriage driver, crossing her arms and tilting her head. I thought Mother said there was no Magic on this...Earth."

She turned, one eye raised towards her carriage driver.

"How so, Princess?" The driver spoke, raising an eyebrow and unfolding a piece of paper.

"Well, I was told when I was sen-...relocated to this plane, that was a magicless dimension, somehow, nor had it any monsters or magical entity. Yet, these roads are...covered in this kind of black soil, and those buildings are way too big to have been risen with only manual labor..."

Clacking her tongue, she moves down the hill, getting near the street closest to the hill she currently stopping by the walkway, and looking down the pavement, before looking to the rest of the road, one eyebrow raised, as the driver finally unfolded the piece of paper

"This pathway...the...walkway on the side of this road, these rocks are cut to perfection! And this...substance on the road is something akin to solid tar. And I'm seeing carriages being pulled, but *without* the vehicles! Without magic, all of this sounds completely impractical! Are you sure we've come to the right dimension? "

"Perhaps they're simply using other methods." He yawns, rubbing the back of his head "Don't the sprites in the Pixie Kingdom use windbags to propel their carriages, or something?"

"Yes, but they use magic to capture the wind." She scratches her head, slightly confused.

Soon enough Moon was in theory mode, rubbing her chin with her index and thumb, dozens of theories already writing themselves in the young princess' head: Perhaps some creature spew some sort of...tar, maybe? Anyway, for now tar, they spew it in this dimension on their roads? Doesn't explain the perfectly cut stone, however...Ah, perhaps a mold is pushed against the rocks, and they use some manner of...succion? But, then again, how strong would the workers need to be to carry it all the way from the Quarry and on EACH place near the road?

That would have gone for quite a while before a second throat cleaning interrupting her thoughts, spooking her a bit. "You back with us, Princess?" The driver says, getting her attention and nodding in confirmation as the heiress turned to him. With another cough, and holding the piece of paper for her, he started speaking again.

"Your mother wants to filter through the guards to be sure to pick a bodyguard for you, which is why for now you'll have to fly solo."

"Fly...solo?"

"You know...by yourself."

"Oh!" She looks away, hiding a blush of embarrassment, fidgeting slightly. "O-of course, haha…"

The driver can't help but laugh at the heiress' awkwardness, before speaking again , voice still carrying some mirth, yet worry

"Don't forget to call your mother, Princess. I know you're still upset, but..."

"I know. That will be all I suppose" She cuts off, turning away. "Send mother the news I've arrived safely, and good fortunes for her efforts to bring peace to Mewni."

She winces a bit, not that the driver is seeing...that was rude, but she's frankly...tired of this; the sooner the topic dies, the sooner she can start letting it sink in.

"...very well. Good luck, Princess Moon."

And with that, she heard the sound of the dimensional scissors, a carriage moving, and a portal opening and closing.

…

...

Welp, no time like the present! It's time for Moon to leave her mother's wings, and fly solo! It's the dream of every princess to one day be free of her parents pressure, and make their own decisions!

Really, she should be happy, ecstatic even!

She'll make new friends, new experiences, get a completely new perspective!

She'll return with knowledge, ideas, and philosophies to enrich her own kingdom, and her rule as a future Queen of Mewni!

Yes, anytime she'll do the figurative first step in her life on Earth.

Anytime now.

Aaaaanytime.

"You're still there, princess?" Glossaryck says, as his head pops out of the book under Moon's arm.

For her whole life, she'll never admit she got spooked by Glossaryck' voice. He...simply broke her concentration. And created the root near her foot, to specifically trip her as a prank, as a jest; she also, definitely, did not scream like a little kid.

No one ever believed her.

* * *

Inspecting up close, it seems these carriages use some sort of fuel, much like the Pixie Kingdom uses wind, indeed. She's not sure how it really works, but it seems a plausible theory as she notices the smoke it releases that it, indeed, uses some sort of fuel; Another observation is that earthians are similar to Mewnians, even in style of attire!

Albeit they seem to really like putting symbols and words on the front and back of it, in more casual looking clothing, that makes absolutely no sense to her.

Also, the language! Another surprise it seems, as she could perfectly understand what they were saying! That threw away dozens of contingency plans she already had in her mind for translating her intentions to the natives.

The streets, too, were arguably more organized than her home, and the fact they've a pathway for people, separating riders from travellers on the road was actually very smart! She added that in her annotations, using the spellbook and it's attached enchanted feather.

After a while, Glossaryck, who was laying down on the blank page, raising the eyebrow to either Moon's disregard to the attention she's bringing, or a intentional obliviousness, mostly likely on the topic on the whole "carrying around a giant sized book in the middle of the street effortlessly, and also writing on it."

"Not that I judge the content of who writes this book" He mentions almost absently-minded, yawning, and rolling, and laying on the page like a bed, eyes closed "but I hardly think comments about the possibility of walkways on Mewni's streets is going to be content the future readers will be overly interested in."

"Neither is an entire page on drawing of balls, but it's kept anyway." She replies, not even looking up from her point of view.

Thankfully she was already prepared for his...oddities beforehand, from her mother's stories. She will be sure not to indulge them.

"Okay, first of all" Glossaryck raises his index finger, pointing at Moon while rolling to lay on the center of the book. "Even if for a very short time, Dirrhennia was still a heir to the Mewni throne, and I will not take off any page of any Queen, regardless of the time of their reign, nor content; I didn't take Eclipsa, I surely wouldn't take her"

"But it's still useless, isn't it"

"Yes but it's a historical landmark, in its own way. At least useful for that"

"So, my "silly" annotations are much like that!" She finalized, in a smug fashion, spinning her feather...and just getting a little of paint on her face.

"Useless?"

"What, No! They're…!" She prepares to rant, when she noticed both her outburst, and the stares she was getting...before clearing her throat, and standing straighter, acting as nothing happened "It's a historical landmark."

"Whatever you say, Princess." He says, almost amused, and reappears, sitting by the edge of the book, legs crossed. "Sooo...what's the big plan?"

Glad of the change of the topic, she closes the book enthusiastically...before her eyes widen and she mutters an embarrassed apology to Glossaryck's head, that pops in between the pages with an unamused expression.

"Mother told me to go to a school, so I'll simply pick one!" She raises her index finger up, and closes her eyes with a practiced smile "Certainly, there must be a school that fits my profile, so I'll blend easily amongst Eart- I...I mean, Creekian society."

"Wouldn't it be simpler to simply pick the closest one, however?"

Moon rolls her eyes, taking a breath, and Glossaryck can already feel his eyes doing the same "As a future heir of Mewni, I must have nothing short of the greatest education this dimension can provide if it is to be my home for this year; I simply cannot settle for less!"

Her blind stride turns fruitful as she comes to face a school that, even if Glossaryck's knowledge of Earth wasn't that great, definitely didn't look like the usual school normal children would go, he couldn't help but grin in amusement out of the scenario he can already imagine.

"And you plan to simply say you're a Princess of an alternate dimension called Mewni, your parents can't come because they're currently dealing with a war between Mewnians and Monsters, two species they certainly have never heard about, shove the treasure on their chest and tell them to apply you."

To her credit, Moon did look away a bit in embarrassment.

"Well, if you word it out that way, it does sound silly, but I'm certain I can explain myself very well. Those talking lessons with Sir Silvertongue will certainly not be wasted, you'll see."

With a slightly more nervous trek, she tightens the grip on book under her arm, and step towards what was going to be her new School, "Richies School for Rich Kids."

What can go wrong?

Wait, she shouldn't have sa-

* * *

"You can't do that to me, I'm a Princess! Royalty, I'll make sure you will have your knight title removed!" The Princess tries to break from the tight hold on her arms by two security guards, clear mix of amusement and exasperation sculpted in their expressions

"Our "king" was the one that wanted you out, "Princess.""

"Then tell him this is no way to treat a dignitary of a Kingdom!" She speaks, decour be damned.

The guards decide to completely disregard any other point she might be making, and to the credit of their patience, and possibly to avoid any lawsuit, simply drop her off on the other side of the gate, and after making sure her oversized book and wooden chest were dropped alongside her, they closed the marbled, gold-detailed gate with a loud clang.

"By the way "Princess", that wouldn't be able to even pay a week in this school." The guard scoffs, "Either return with your actual parents, or go play pretend somewhere else."

And they walk away, leaving Moon to fume, and the other kids to openly giggle at her. That quickly changed when she turned to them, and suddenly those selfsame kids suddenly felt like going anywhere but near the crazily dressed teen.

With that being done, she takes a deep breath. "Recompose yourself Moon. You're a princess. Heir to the throne. You're above that." Closing her eyes, and exhaling for the last time, she pats her dress of the dust, adjusting the Butterfly pin in the neck, she picks up the gold chest and the book, and starts heading down the street.

"Told you that wouldn't work." He says, still within the book.

"It was, admittedly, not a smart judgement. It's their loss, after all, however; I'll be certain to put down a very negative opinion on them when I become queen; let's see them getting any other clients."

"This is not Mewni, I hardly think your input will matter very much, Princess."

"Then I just need to start diplomatic relationships with Echo Creek, and make it faithful allies of Mewni, so _my word matters._ "

"Then you would openly start diplomatic relationship with a realm, completely unaware of the concepts of dimensions and magic, cause a complete shock and awe, simply to spite a school that had a very good reason to not believe your word on a very fundamental ground?"

"I've made my case crystal clear, they just wouldn't listen."

"You've repeated "like", at least 20 times."

Moon raised the Book to her eye level, eye twitching "If you could give me any suggestion, instead of simply poking fun at my expense, Glossaryck, that would be very much **appreciated.** "

Glossaryck looks at her for a moment, rubbing his chin with...his foot?

She said she would not indulge it, she will **not indulge it**!

"Nah. You got this". And with that, he returned to the book "Ah, don't forget we'll have practice lessons tonight!"

"Wait, come back here, you!" She kept trying to browse through the pages, but he wouldn't appear. "Releasing a sigh, she closed the book again, and got her belongings, and continued her search. "There has to be a place that will take me in, there _has_ to!"

Her quest for a school took her a good chunk of the afternoon, in between asking random people about schools in Echo Creek, asking directions, asking them to explain said directions, and what a "boulevard" was even supposed to be like, she finally reached where she was. Her hair was disheveled, she was sure her dress got torn on a bush, and her feet hurt, but she finally reached a place that, most likely would take it in.

Echo Creek Academy. A school for normal teenagers of Echo Creek, and particularly receptive of transfer students; the concept not being completely stranger for Moon, and she silently sighed in relief and in frustration for not thinking of that before.

It was a silly thought in retrospect, Earth was most likely a singular kingdom from her impression of Echo Creek, why would they have school for nobility, this city must simply be a smaller one; the logic is sound, her mother most likely wouldn't want people to know about her stay, in case the monsters spies got wind of it, and she supposed she should have asked more, instead of just brooding the entirety of the day. She can faintly hear Glossaryck's giggles in the background, and she dutifully decided to ignore.

Eventually, after asking around, she got a meeting with the headmaster: An old looking man, wearing a suit that was clearly too big for him, for starters. On the walls were pictures of a muscular men flexing, and winking at whoever is looking, and trophies for "Beach Stud", "Bodybuilder 1981", "Surfing Championship 1982", so and so, all these pictures and trophies having a signature of one "Gustav Chad Hasseltrumpf". Moon, for a moment, blinks at him. The headmaster's ghost of a frown speaks louder than any sentence could, and she decides wisely to pull the reins on that thought.

She really doesn't need another school rejecting her.

"So...Moon Butterfly, right?" He glances up from a folder, looking her up and down.

"Yes sir." She nods, hands held together upfront, looking directly at his eyes.

"Transfer student from...Mewni. Never heard of it." He gazes, a bit suspiciously…

"It's...quite far. Small city, I'm not surprised you don't know, hahaha…" She giggles slightly, hiding her mouth behind her hand, keeping her dignified posture.

Even if internally she was sweating buckets. Well, not literally sweating, it was a figure of expre-

"Well. Do you have any documentation t-" The Headmaster was interrupted as, with a loud thump, a healthy pile of golden materials thunks down on his desk. His eyes widen as he looks between the jewelry, gold coins and treasure and between the "Princess", who simply stands there with a blank expression, holding another small amount of treasure on her hand, her treasure chest on the floor. The faux staring contest takes at least two minutes, before the Headmaster spoke, clearing his throat.

"Give me that other handful, and I'll even fake your documents."

"Thank you, Sir Chad."

"Please, call me Gustav. Please do, I hate that middle name."

She couldn't help this time but grin toothily.

* * *

"You know, normally I would say that endorsing the practice of corruption is very un-queenlike, but...I don't really care, very clever."

"Why thank you, Sir Glossaryck" Moon eagerly speaks, pocketing her completely legitimate documents and registration papers on her baggage, wearing a small grin.

"Well, with your education issue solved, the problem of a place to stay persists…" He scratches his chin, looking fairly disinterested "Perhaps you can pull a Cecilia an-"

"That will not be necessary, Glossaryck. I've already got a place in mind, in fact." She replies, her timid smile widening by an inch with giddy thoughts of surprising her smart-mouthed mentor with her foresight giving a little bit of step in her surprisingly tired body.

"Oh, do you?" He turns to her, eyebrows raised just slightly in curiosity.

"Yes. I do remember a spell Mother told me about replicating a room that has emotional connection to a person, right?"

"Yes, but it does take a fair bit of your energy, and of course, no offense…" Glossaryck does a look-over on her tired, but satisfied expression, and slightly dirtied dress "But you look like a breeze can knock you over."

"While I am quite tired, I think that you and I will surely end up delaying our magic lessons for the next day in the state of my situation, then it is in the best of our interest to guarantee a safe location for both of us, and a comfort zone for me to be able to practice better, hmm?"

Glossaryck seems to think a bit, before nodding. "Fair point, but I'm not carrying you if you pass out because of exhaustion.

"A princess knows very much her limits, Glossaryck."

"Repeating only what you've learnt in Princess school doesn't really make it a reality, Moon."

She walks a little slower, processing both the...odd barb, as well as the fact that for a first, Glossaryck called her Moon. She turns to look at her shoulder again, but Glossaryck isn't there anymore. With a snort, she continues heading down the street for quite a while, enjoying the silence.

Concrete buildings give way to residential houses, until a particular lot the Princess stops. She nods, and holding the book, opens it. "We're here, Glossaryck."

He looks around, inspecting the area; It's clearly on one of Echo Creek's many hills, overlooking the city. It seemed to be a small, park-like area, seemingly abandoned for quite a while. There is some junk laying, thankfully mostly electronics or metallic matter rather than actual trash, some abandoned, rotting wood benches, as well a rusty-looking children's park; The grass is clearly overgrown, reaching past Moon's shoes, dandelions being a sight every once in awhile on the landscape

The main building seems to be where the public restroom is, and that one actually looks like someone looked after it compared to the rest, with windows being boarded with planks instead of simply left broken, the cleaner looking wall bricks, and wooden planks also covering part of the roof which, Glossaryck assumes, were lacking or collapsed.

Past the restroom and the rusted playground, there's a metal fence, paved on cracked concrete, where Moon sees a good part of Echo Creek, including its setting sun. She spent an entire day on Earth so far; No monsters, no nobles trying to court her hand, no soldiers, no tension...Moon takes a deep breath, releasing it in a single burst, face frozen in a half-smile, as she lays herself against the metal railing.

"The air smells different, but in a pleasant way...you know, Glossaryck, I think I could actually-"

Her thoughts are broken as she releases a small gasp, and desperately tries to balances herself, hands waving, as the metal railing gives way, sliding down the hill before hitting a road. She manages to stop herself just short of the cliff-side, taking deep breaths.

"Okay. This place really, _really_ needs some safety tapes, ancestors be damned!"

She calms herself, wiping her forehead. Stretching herself, she puts a hand on her hip, and the other she picks her holstered wand, pointing at the spot the rusted playground is.

"Alright Glossaryck, what's the spell for casting my tower…?"

"That would be "Sparkle Glitter Bomb Expand", Princess."

"...that is a very odd name."

"I don't tell the Princesses how they name their spells, Princess."

"Fair enough. Alright, focus…"

Moon picks up the wand with both hands, eyes closed in concentration. Her hair rises a bit, and her cheek marks emit a faint glow as she powers up her magic, and with a sudden movement, her eyes are open again.

"Sparkle Glitter Bomb Expand!"

She points to the Rusted Park, and the effect is instantaneous. From the sand, a tower bursts from the ground, throwing debris and rusted pieces of metal in all directions, thankfully none near her, and a very familiar and lovely tower rises; She has to say, it's definitely spotless, as the spell copied the dark, rock bricks cut from Mewni's mountain itself, as well as the rectangular windows; the topmost having the brass balcony she loved to enter to watch the Sunrise in Mewni...and now she'll use to watch the Sunrise on Earth! The floor level is as modest, having only a simple wooden door with her name.

She would need to cut down the grass around her tower, maybe plant some orchids? Oh, the thought of prettying up this place...and possibly making it less of a safety hazard makes her almost forget the events of the past day!

"Well, what do you think Glossaryck. Fairly well done, for someone that casted it for the first time, right?" She turns to Glossaryck, almost smugly, before she notices he isn't looking specifically at her, instead in the direction of the street; confused, she turns, before she loses all color on her face. Standing there, is another girl, roughly her height it seems, and she looks in complete surprise, her groceries long since dropped on the floor.

"Oh, _cornbiscuit-"_

 **"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY ART PIECE?"**

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter, CH 2 coming somewhere between the minute you finished reading this, to the moment I post it.**

 **Have a good week :D**


	3. New Faces, New Experiences

**Hey! I'm happy you're all enjoying the story, I'm generally not good in these Author Notes, so I'll just say I'll be putting two reviewers questions at easy right now!**

 **To regigigas, thank you man, yeah Moon is so underrated as a character...I mean, considering Can't Catch Up, I guess it's kind of my weak point to write stuff for these underrated characters...**

 **And about Moon's Mewberty...;)**

 **Nonetheless, enjoy! Star vs is owned by Dafcy and Disney and one day I'll remember to not forget to do these disclaimers...**

 **Edit: Fixes. Line breakers. etc etc.**

* * *

Chapter 2 - New Faces, New Experiences

Moon wanted to bury her head in the ground, and scream.

Angry at herself for not making sure anyone was around before casting magic in the dimension she knew to be magicless, and in which she was told to keep a low profile.

Confused over the individual's...stronger focus over how her tower destroyed his "piece of criticism towards the de-evaluation of a lost childhood" and how they spent apparently seventeen hours actively welding the rusted park together to make a "statement."

Guilty over the fact that this individual spent at least 10 minutes doubled over, slamming her fist on the ground, screaming about how she is apparently a maniac, how she blew it up, damning her and everyone to hell, and openly weeping.

That guilt quickly turned to light exasperation when the girl suddenly got up, shook the dirt out of their...blue-ish pants, and turned to her, pointing her finger and demanding answers over how she created an even more beautiful "commentary on the imposition of societal pressures on the lifestyles of young girls and the mental scars it causes in their unbalanced development."

And now...she's just wary. She's wary of the...quirky looking and acting girl, dressed in some sort of...almost sleep wear, really; A black t-shirt, some sort of...cloth tied to the hip, like if she got another shirt and used it to tie like a belt, the use for what escaping her, the aforementioned blue pants made of this weird fabric, and...white bunny slippers.

Is the rainbow hair natural? Her curiosity is screaming at her to ask!

"So...let me get it straight. You're a...princess. Like, an actual princess, from another...dimension? Am I getting this right?" She asked, raising her rainbow colored eyebrow.

Seriously, is the color natural? Can Earthians have more than one hair tone? From what she glimpsed around the city, their tones seemed ranging more of tones of brown, or white in case of old people, is this some sort of, say mutati-

Focus.

With a sigh, Moon nodded.

"And you're here for a year, in an...exchange program."

She nodded again, scratching her head and putting up a nervous smile

"...I don't get it." She says, getting up and walking towards the tower.

"...what, what is it you don-woah!" She gasps a bit, as the bench they were sitting finally bites the dust and collapses in a pile of scrap. Muttering a silent thanks to the deities for none of it scratching her.

"I thought I made the case perfectly clear! You've seen me casting the spell, what about this isn't completely, crystal clear?!" She asks, frustrated.

Glossaryck appears next to her shoulder, floating."You know, one would think that it would be better to let her think that wasn't magic, but here's you actually trying to convince her." He offhandedly mentions, glancing at the dropped bag of groceries.

"Not...now Glossaryck." She rubs her temple, as the sage floats next to the bag, seemingly searching something.

"Oh, no, I believe you completely on that." The teen nods, looking over the tower with an analytical gaze, waving her hand in Moon's direction.

"Oh, you do?" She tilts her head, one eyebrow raised "Then what don't you understand?"

"Well...why you're here." She waves around "There is more than Earth and your dimension, right?"

"Oh many, many more!" Glossaryck mentions, the bag of groceries moving as he digs deeper on it.

"Yeah, what the trippy blue man said." She points at the bag, Moon silently wondering if she's even aware of what he's doing on her grocery bag, or maybe she doesn't particularly care "You could have went anywhere, but you just came here, to this...boring town. That's what I don't get , you could have gone literally _anywhere_ , why here?"

"I would like to know too…" She mutters almost immediately, before catching herself and covering her mouth. "I..I me-"

"Actually I don't care anymore" the girl says suddenly, standing up and moving in a single maneuver, in a jog, and enters the tower.

"Wait wh- w-wa that's my room!" She gasps, hurriedly entering the small tower and running up the stairway to her room.

Moon's room is simple, yet elegant, having frivolities where it mattered: A single, four poster, mahogany bed, the bed sheets and pillow cover being a polka-dotted pattern of pink diamonds, with velvet curtains around it, nightstands on each side having golden candleholders. Facing the bed is a makeup/study table, the kit laying closed on the left, the cover of the box being, again, her cheek mark, and by the right of the table a bookshelf, the many topics of her studies laid organized alphabetically. To the end of the room is a glass door, opening up to the courtyard facing the city.

The girl whistles, looking around. "Whew, you're really a princess, look at this room!"

"T-this is my room, I did n-" She almost follows...before taking her time to wipe her shoes on the welcoming carpet. "You did not even clean up before entering! This is my room, you can't just waltz in like you're entitled to it!" She admonishes the girl, frustrated.

"You do realize you did just make it and broke my art piece, didn't you" She folds her arms, raising her nose slightly.

"A rusted park definitely isn't a piece of art?!"

" _How dare you?_ _How. Dare. YOU!_ " She screeches "It was a statement over the loss of innocence due to the pressures of society, and how it rusts our childhood memories with the monotony of everyday life! I've told you! It's art, it's suffering, _it's my soul!_ "

"No, it was just a rusted pile of scrap and junk!" Moon howls, tightening her hands in a fist, glaring at the intruder of her sanctuary.

" **WHY AM I SUCH AN MISUNDERSTOOD ARTIST?!"**

" **YOU'RE ACTING COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE!"**

" **STOP SCREAMING YOU'RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE, IT'S INTERRUPTING MY CREATIVE GENIUS!"**

" **YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STARTED SCREAMING TO BEGIN WITH?!"**

While the two girls screamed at each other, Glossaryck sat by the edge of the balcony holding a small plastic cup; he tears it off, looking at the brown smudge inside, with a hmm. Dipping his hand, he takes a bit of it and gives it a lick…

Eyes widening, he takes another handful and shoves it on my mouth like one would with popcorn, watching the princess and the stranger scream at each other, the discussion just eventually devolving into a rambling contest.

"I don't think I've seen Moon ever scream at someone in Mewni. My oh my, we've only come today and she's already cutting loose, hmm."

He takes another mouthful of the ambrosia he's delighting himself right now.

"That's good. She'll definitely need that."

* * *

"I can't believe I actually shouted at her."

"Indeed, you did."

"Mother would be so disappointed in me."

"I wouldn't say really disappointed, more like...surprised, really?"

"I'll definitely apologize tomorrow." Moon says, delicately brushing her hair, and sitting down by the edge of the bed "As a princess of Mewni, it was extremely uncouth of me to lose control, even when facing...unreasonable demands. The stress of the situation simply got to me."

"Whatever you say, Moon." Glossaryck says, stretching himself "Now I'll go catch my own z's, don't stay up for too long, okay?" He then belly-flops on his own page, the book closing with the lock.

After dressing her nightgown, Moon gets under the blankets, and closes her eyes trying to sleep, but it doesn't come. She...feels it's too quiet; She hears the howling of the wind, the leaves and the birds, but...it's lacking the faint white noise of the castle, the sounds of muffled voices, the clank of armored feet hitting the ground...the busy noises.

All there is, is silence. And it's deafening.

She tightens her grip on the edge of the blankets, before releasing it and placing a pillow over her face, taking deep breaths.

She's worried, she really really is. Her mother, her friends, her kingdom...all of it is so far away, and she can't do anything to help. How many attacks have happened while she went around in some city in a distant dimension asking people directions to a school? How should she act in the school, what should she already know, but doesn't? Will she stick out like a sore thumb, or will she actually manage to blend in? How should she go about her day to day without drawing attention?

Is her mother like her, right now, insomniac over these thoughts?

With a grunt, she draws herself off the bed, and heads towards the glass door to the balcony. She looks down, closing her eyes…

Maybe for a moment, she wishes so much when she opened them, she would be back in Mewni. She would see her kingdom, the corn fields, the Forest of Certain Death...she would see the faint candlelights of her subjects, and the distant laugh of the taverns. The memories bring her a smile as she thinks of the times her mother would brush her hair, while telling daring tales of her youth…

She opens the door. It's not Mewni. But isn't necessarily a bad sight…

"I...wonder. How do their lights work? It's not candles, there's no fuel...perhaps it's some sort of energy…?" She mutters to herself, watching the lights of the city of Echo Creek; around this time, Mewni would be preparing to sleep, yet it looks like Creekians are as active in the night as they are in the day, the same cars running the streets, the people...It all felt very much alive, even in the dark.

Don't they really fear anything? No monsters, no conflicts? An idyllic life?

Not logical, really...she'll learn more tomorrow, for sure.

Sleep came much easier for the Princess now.

* * *

Moon woke up early, as she's won't to do. Stretching herself, she hops off her bed, and pushes up the window, still sleepy, but a pleasant grin on her face, as she takes the early morning sun.

"Good Morning Mew-Good Morning, Echo Creek!" Moon paused and rubbed the back of her neck, sliding back onto her bed. "It just doesn't have the same kick on it."

She lays on the bed for another minute, before being reminded that she still needs to get ready for school, and another five trying to get off her admittedly comfy bed.

Admittedly, the selection of dresses she had was considerably smaller than she normally would have had access to in Mewni, but to be fair, it was a rush job, and there was so much the spell could replicate from her own home. Picking a similar dress to the one she wore yesterday, she heads down the staircase.

"Oh, Sir Dorval, what will be the breakfas-" Moon turned to her left, straightening her back as practiced...to simply find nothing but thin air, and a empty road in front of her. "Alright. Nnnooo...I suppose I should arrange my own meal." She adjusts the schoolbag provided to her by the headmaster, turning upwards, facing the roof of the tower. "Will you be okay, Sir Glossaryck?" She spoke, voice slightly louder, but not yet shouting.

Silence. "Oh, most likely sleeping then. Very well." Turning to the road, she starts heading down the pathway, towards the academy. She can certainly find breakfast along the way.

* * *

"It's really weird, I haven't found any corn fields so far…" Moon mentions, munching on an apple; People gave her weird looks for picking it from the park, but what function would the apple tree even be if it wasn't to eat the apples off of it?

The walk from her home to the academy was quite relaxing, allowing her to elaborate on her thoughts, automatically making the path towards her destination.

She wonders if the blue men with the caps are supposed to be the guards, because if they are, they are wholly unarmored...then again, no monsters means no threats, really; threats would solely be from within people, which meant agility was more important than endurance.

Smart and pragmatic really, perhaps she can work towards a "police force" for Mewni too, specially regarding the corn smugglers…

Eventually, she reaches the academy, finishing the apple and throwing in the trash bin. She holds herself a little by the door, pulling the straps of her bag, and closing her eyes, giving short breaths, before entering.

People on Earth...dress very casually, a point she makes sure to remember when to direct for the royal we- well, she guesses that she'll need a weaver eventually; even the girls seem to go for a simple shirt skirt attire than the dress she's wearing. In fact, people are staring quite a bit, giving her a little bit of nervousness.

But it's ok, Moon has long since practiced dealing with nervous situations, she's not frail enough to simply fall apart like a bundle of sticks at any gust; a monarch must be as resilient as a monolith, and magnificent like the first corn harvested from the fields, golden as if kissed by the sun!

So, putting on her comfortable and familiar mental mask, she raises her head and bit, and puts confidence in her stride, walking down the hallways with the prim and proper gait of an heiress of Mewni.

"Now, it should be classroom 2 - B...ah, there it is." She opens the door of the classroom, and dutifully makes her way towards one of the seats, casually registering the curious looks her fellow classmates.

Soon enough, class is starting, the teacher coming...huh, the teacher actually looks as normal as the rest of the class. Maybe it's how it is in Mewni, but she half expected him to be something akin to a noble, but besides the slightly bored look, the teacher still had this...casual air around him, like the other students; then again, if schools on Earth are really for everyone, then perhaps really everyone could be a teacher. How odd.

"Alright, so I'll be your Math teacher for the year…" Ah, more than one teacher, makes sense." Can I have everyone introduce themselves?"

The presentation goes smoothly, Moon mentally tallying up each name to the face unconsciously, it wouldn't do for a dignitary to commit such a _gaffe_ as forgetting a name, especially in the royal dinners; Soon enough, she's called to present herself, and does so with a flourish and practiced ease.

"Good morning, fellow students, pursuers of the wealth of knowledge. I'm humbled to be amongst ranks of such prestigious scholars. I'm Princess Moon, from the kingdom of Mewni, here on a pilgrimage of knowledge and good will; I'm in your capable hands."

She finished up raising her skirt, and giving a polite bow, her expression serene and grateful. Certainly, she made quite the impression!

Complete silence falls on the , wasn't her excuse going to be about being a transfer student?...Oh no.

The class erupts in roaring laughter, as the heiress blushes, hiding her face behind her hands in sheer embarrassment, gritting her teeth, as she tries to regain control of the situation.

"No, no I mean, I'm a t-transfer st-stude-"

She couldn't even finish her sentence, before the teacher, after calming down from the laugher, grabbed a metal ruler and slammed a bit against the green board, drawing the students attention.

"Alright, alright, you've done fair enough as it is, princess. Now, let's get started, shall we?"

Forcing down her embarrassment on a very tightly sealed vault, Moon turns to the professor, giving a sigh of relief; Moon was tutored by the brightest minds of Mewni, so whatever this school most likely taught, it probably wouldn't be around the same pains her a bit to slow her education, but the bright side will undoubtedly shine on more abstract classes, like History.

Whatever the Math Teacher brings at her, Moon's ready!

"Now, what do you know about Bhaskara's Formulae?"

Bhaska-what?

* * *

"So, you mix up potassium chloride with…"

So, Alchemy isn't inherently a magic topic...earthians sure use weird terms for the elements, but whatever. Now..where's the pixie dust?

* * *

"So, considering all these circumstances, there was absolutely no question the reason the pioneers would head towards the west…"

She doesn't understand why the other students look so thoroughly bored, this is utterly fascinating! Not only did she learn about being on this nation, but it's own history and the where she currently is!

Democracy is an odd idea, however. She doesn't really understand why the pioneers were so against a monarchy. Wouldn't it be better to have a strong, dignified ruler to truly make a country on its own vision, instead of delegating every four years to someone completely different?

Moon supposes the absence of any actual danger to Earthians made them think too much about such things, but it isn't her place to really question it.

"Now, can anyone tell me what exactly is the Manifest Destiny?"

Ooh, she knows that one, as she raises the sole hand in a sea of bored students.

"...seriously, no one else. Sigh, alright, Moon?"

* * *

Hiccups aside, the experience in school has been thoroughly fascinating! Few things were similar enough, but everything else felt almost alien, enticing her desire to know more and more; Chemistry, Math, Geometry, Geography, so many concepts and knowledge that complemented or increased what she was taught by her own tutors!

Do they really spread so much knowledge to the common folk? She saw nothing about the correct procedures of planting corn, or wielding weapons, something she would come to expect from a commoner's school. So, each student here was taught so many things she really doesn't see a common person ever using. Perhaps, it's because of their lack of magic that this need to spread knowledge began?

She would have thought this would be a prince or princess school, perhaps for lesser nobles, weren't the fact she learned this country runs by democracy. There's no nobles, or princes…

These thoughts kept her busy through lunchtime, sitting by herself on the table. Some students looked at her curiously, but in the end never really approached; She isn't particularly bothered at that, Moon really haven't ever been much of a social butterfly, and the silence is great, but still…

Did she come off too strong? This was one of her casual dresses! She even picked her simplest tiara!

In the distance, she sees some girls looking at her, and snickering slightly. Huh? Did she have some food on her face, or something? She picks up her wand, looking at her reflection...no, she's as pristine and proper as always.

That only makes the girls go from timid snickering to complete laughter.

Ah. It's just like the princesses then. She can deal with that.

And thus, Moon Butterfly closes her eyes, and eats in peace.

Now, what's this green goo...

The rest of the classes went around smoothly, if Moon could say. The food was...well, bad. Like, really bad. She really should consider bringing something instead of eating from the Cafeteria, she's still feeling her stomach spinning.

As she walks down the corridor, however, she notices a faint commotion coming from outside. Curiosity overwhelms her, and she heads over quickly...there is a small crowd gathering around the parking lot...is there some sort of chanting?

"Fight, fight, fight, fight!"

Oh...oh dear.

Rushing through the crowd, she finally gets a closer look of the scene. A bulky, big redhead punches a brown, spiky haired teen who slams down onto the ground with a loud thump, as well as the sound of...broken wood?

"Ain't so tough now, huh Diaz? People like you are just all bark and nooo bite."

He's carrying a...painting it seems. On the ground, it's a scrawny, glasses-wearing kid, looking absolutely terrified for his life…

The boy, Diaz, tries to stand up and run towards the ginger, who just back-hands him back to the ground. He raises the painting, and punches through it, throwing the ruined painting at his head.

"Don't get in my way, _compadre._ " The boys laughs loudly, two other teenagers laughing alongside him, and leaving both of them on the floor. Moon immediately rushes towards the teen, helping him get up..

"Oh, oh corn, a-are you okay? Are you hurting somewhere, oh what I'm saying of course you are, o-oh don't worry I know a spell…"

The boy turns to her, brown meeting her blue…

"The only spell I am feeling...is the spell of of dazzlement you've cast on me, _senõra…_ "

...is this another count Mildrew. Her face unconsciously makes a scowl, dropping him with a low ouch...then remembering the situation just moments ago.

"Oh no, I'm sorry! Again!"

"I-It's...okay, haha...I had it coming." He shakily gets up, wincing and spitting a bit, grabbing his painting. The scrawny kid, who was still frozen on the ground, quickly gets up and runs away, bawling. Rafael looks at him, and shrugs, looking towards Moon.

"You're the transfer student, aren't you? From...hmm…"Mewni?" He asks, eyebrow raised.

"O-oh yes, small city, hahaha...I...I don't recognize you from my classes…"

"I'm an...wait…" He winces, standing up from full height. Rafael is fairly tall for a wild haired fifteen year old boy, wearing what seems to be a football jacket, black pants and sneakers...he holds his hand, Moon getting the clue and helping him up.

"I'm...your senior, haha...ouch." Moon nods...before looking at the painting in his hands with a frown; Rafael notices and frowns a bit, before shrugging "I can just paint it again, no big deal." He starts walking away, in a slight limp, towards the sunset, his form getting more indistinct against the late afternoon sun...Moon watches, before speaking...her voice is slightly deadpan.

"The nurse is inside the school."

The Teen freezes...before turning back, with an awkward smile "O-oh. T-thank you! I...got distracted for a bit...haha…"

"You were trying to walk away looking cool, weren't you?" She asks deadpan,arms folded

"...noooo?" He says, unconvincing.

She keeps quiet, before rolling her eyes and pulling him by the jacket towards the nurse. She pointedly ignored his small complaints and winces.

"What were you even doing, that other one looked like he could throw you within one arm! That was irresponsible of you!" She started ranting, berating the boy she barely met.

"H-hey I'm o-older than you!"

"You definitely aren't acting like it!" She turns to him again, stopping her dragging of the Diaz boy. "Also, you still haven't told me why you just picked a fight with him!"

He stops...and looks on the side, embarrassed "Doug -the big one- was messing with Stan -the scrawny, nerdy one- again. Trying to lock him inside the dumpster. Couldn't really leave it like that, you know?"

Moon pauses a bit. Oh...well, that is really altruistic! Maybe she was a little too harsh on him. She opens her mouth, taking her hand off his jacket, before he continues.

"For a true man always helps those in need! And they know...that a beatiful _señora_ will be ready to clean his battle wounds."

Nevermind, he's an idiot. She returns to dragging him, this time by the ear.

" _¡Dios mío, mi oreja!"_

She doesn't really need to understand what he's saying to feel what he's complaining, but this Diaz fellow will act like River, then she'll treat him like River...a pang of sorrow hits her heart as she remember her two friends on Mewni, but she shakes her head, moving forward with her dignified stride, ignoring the stares she's getting from the other students.

Boys really aren't different, no matter the dimension.

* * *

After making sure Rafael -learning his name as the nurse screamed at him for getting in another fight- was alright, she prepares to get back to her house, before he insists on accompanying her, even as she protests that his house was the entirely other way when he pointed. Admittedly, she could have refused simply put, but…

She did miss a bit of company; If she imagined hard enough, it was like walking with River through the gardens, giggling at the exaggerated tales of hunting, and plans of becoming a mighty warrior king.

Whichever queen River claimed would be one lucky queen indeed…

"Moon, you there?"

"W-wha...O-oh I'm sorry, I spaced out a bit...did you say something?" She turns, rubbing her eyes a bit, before turning to him.

"I'm just asking if the...stories of you being an actual princess are really true."

Oh...did it spread that fast? Curse her automatic responses!

She thought of telling him her practiced reply. Of course not, she's a student from...Dakota, small city called Mewni, that she called herself princess mostly as an endearing term really. It's what her mother would have wanted, after all...lay low, out of sight, out of mind, for as long as the war took…Separating her from everyone she cared for, on a dimension completely unknown, with little preparation…

Would it really hurt if she just told a close circle? She could feel Rafael was a trustworthy person, even if...too "Mildrew" in his "Advances".

"Words tell a lot, and teenagers are very prone to gossip, as you're surely aware, Mr. Diaz" She starts, Rafael already mouthing an oh of understanding. "Thus why I think actions matter much more than simple youth gossip." She says, picking her wand, and stopping, turning towards a simple trash can.

"Levitato." A simple enough spell, she seen her mother use it dozen of times when dealing with paperwork, so it didn't came as a surprise for her that she did on the first try, easily lifting it, and floating it above Rafael's head.

"Wow.. _.La amistad es verdaderamente mágica …_ "

"I don't know what you said, but I'll chalk it up as being impressed." She mentions with a proud smile, laying the bin back, and continuing her path…

"So...you're like, a magical princess, from a magic land then?" He turns, putting his hands on his pockets, expression still in awe.

"I suppose I am" She replied, half a smile on her expression.

The rest of the walk is spent in comfortable silence...Rafael most likely is still processing that, and Moon enjoys the company even if it's quiet. The climb takes a bit, but as her tower is soon seen in the distance, and Rafael's expression widens even more. She can't help but hum a bit, her walk having a little more of a cheerful step to it.

He stops there, shaking his head, and turning to Moon "I guess I should make my way back...if I take too long, my grandma will probably be worried…" He says, his tone...fearful? Why would he fear his own grandmother?

"Ah, it's ok. See you tomorrow?"

"I can always make time for a beautiful damsel"

"Cut that out, or I'll glue your mouth" She replies, practiced smile on her expression.

He laughs cheerfully, and turns away, waving. Moon waves back, and returns hopping to her tower! She can't wait to tell Mother...oh right...oh wait she can call her! Aha!

Moon is in high spirits, and nothing can remotely spoil that!

* * *

"Get off my bed."

"Nope. It's comfier than mine. Looks like we're sharing, princess!"

"We're sharing nothing, you're intruding in my sanctuary again, and dirtying up my bed!"

The rainbow haired woman turns to Moon, thoughtful expression on her face, before simply turning and pulling the blankets on top of her.

"You can have the trailer, it's good for you, creates thick skin! And bug bites."

…

"Levitato."

"W-wait what are you doooOOOOOOOO wait what let me down, come on it's just a prank, you know! Between roommates! You and me, against the world girl! Moon Butterfly vs The World, amirite?!"

"You haven't even told me your name."

"If I tell you, will you not drop me in on the dirt and mess up my clothing?" She plays with her hair innocently, rolling it on her finger, looking down nervously as she noticed where the heiress was looking, and connecting the dots

Moon un-amusedly opens the windows of her tower, floating the rainbow haired girl out. She looks down, eyes widening.

"It's Sky! SKY! C-come on! You wouldn't! You're a nice girl, aren't you a prim and proper princess!" She starts looking down, sweating, and looking at Moon with pleading eyes

"No more going on my room without authorization. Do we have a deal?"

"...this isn't a deal, it's more of a threeeeeEEEAAA" Her voice clearly raises in panic, as Moon puts a little less strength on the spell.

"Alright! I'll even bring you breakfast tomorrow, how cool is that, hahahahaHAHAHHAHAHA!"

Moon smiles, an unnatural bloodlust in her eyes...as she unpowers the spell, and the girl starts to fall.

"AAAA- Oof." She lands on her two legs...and then notices that she was actually pretty much on ground level.

"What the-" That's the last Moon hears of her "roommate", as she closes the the windows with an enthusiastic thump! "Well, it's great to have my meal for tomorrow guaranteed, isn't it Glossaryck?...Glossaryck?"

She raises her eyebrows, turning around. Huh, he normally would be around. Odd. "I wonder if Mother will actually have time for me…" Moon absently minded mentions, as she turns towards her own makeup mirror.

"Mirror, call Mother."

"Calling…"

* * *

 **And just like that, Moon's first day on Earth ends. One wonders how's on the other side, hmm...?**

 **Don't forget to Review, hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Thoughts of the Homeland

**Alright! Another chapter for you all!**

 **Krusa1 - You're on to something there ;)**

 **Cyrtus/Retro - Star wasn't someone that took much notice of these things, while Moon is. Suffice to say, the parallels between Mewni and Earth will be something quite...reocurring on her mind. Can't say more :x!**

 **Guest - ;)**

 **With all that out of the way, let's go! Star vs is owned by Daron Defcy and Disney, yadda yadda, you know the deal.**

* * *

The meeting room is currently an absolute mess, counsellors and knights screaming at each other, arguing "strategies", Comet Butterfly silently noticing that a lot of them could be shortened up to "let's go around, swinging around blindly until miraculously, we behead the leader of this rebellion."

Mina Loveberry, unsurprisingly, was the "head" of this aforementioned tactic. She truly appreciated the Warrior's Strength to the Butterflies, even though her thought process was...quite odd.

Then again, Comet thought with some amusement, it was exactly because of her oddness she was sitting alongside them.

"I'm telling you, we should get an army, and immediately march to the west!" She points to the direction, slamming her fist on the table...and cracking it. Comet snickers a bit, covering her mouth as to not be impolite "Ms. Loveberry, that's North." She patiently points out.

She tries to adjust. "Now that's south." The Queen replies, giggling in faint mirth, this time manners be damned.

"Yes, I know...we'll make them think we go in one direction, and then we'll go in the other, where their centre of command is!"

"Queen Comet, you surely don't approve of this action, do you?" The Knight turns to her, exasperated. The expression of amusement of Comet's expression, however, did not help his worries.

Comet, simply put, wasn't having a good day...she hadn't had any good days for quite a while. It seemed, almost daily, that the alarm horn was heard in the distance, spelling the doom and suffering of another village, or neighbours kingdoms; the monsters were relentless and merciless; many times her scouts only returning with tales of complete destruction, as well as the refugees waiting by the gates...

It pains her heart, it really does. But making an army and marching towards outside the kingdom would just leave it defenseless...Comet wants a peaceful resolution, but she's not a fool.

The monsters will want their head on a silver plate.

That's why she trusts Loveberry so much...well, that, and the fact she's just _hilarious!_

She raises her gloved hand to her mouth, gnawing on the tip of the fabric a bit, giggling...Mina is too busy arguing with the other generals, but...the thoughts of Comet aren't fully there.

She wonders how moon was handling such a sudden transition. She basically threw her on Earth on a whim, not even having time to do proper research or prepare a location...but she couldn't trust her own council. She carefully peers over the round table, taking note of every detail, every expression of the generals and knights, trying to see any oddity, or tear…

Among all of the monsters currently assailing the Mewman territories, Mudmen were the current largest threat.; the rivers of the region were rerouted to the Kingdom's farms, depriving the beasts of the shores. They didn't look very tough, and weren't much in a straight fight compared to many other monsters but…

Well, they were _mud people_. Mewni's streets are made of dirt. It's ridiculously easy for them to make tunnels under them.

"Ms. Loveberry. How have the hunts for the cells been?" She turns to the general, who is busy holding a knight in a headlock. Her expression hardens a bit, and she drops him with a clang, immediately saluting towards her

"I've personally checked every nook and even deformed terrain, my queen! Me and my Mudsisters will not fail you!" Comet giggles slightly...ah, Mudsisters. That never gets old.

"The...mudmen, Queen?" One of the knights looks at her, his bushy eyebrow raising at her direction.

Comet gets up, wearing a practiced smile "Why yes, Knight. The Mudmen...a mischievous species, capable of easily melding together with soil, and making tunnels underground...not only that…" Her smile grew to an even bigger proportion, making a fist "They can harden their surface into a skin-like substance which many of them use to disguise themselves…" The guard looks genuinely spooked, as Comet shakes her head, hands folded on her back.

"Why, you look positively panicked, Sir Fink. You're not a mudman...are you?" She replies, head tilting a bit in an almost motherly smile, Loveberry right behind her, cracking her knuckles, bloodlust in his eyes.

"No-no, ma'am…" The guard holds himself, holding against the border of the table. "I...just didn't know about them. T-to...think they could be anyone…? Could they disguise as children, too?" He looks at Comet, clearly panicking, the other guards muttering agreements, and looking thoughtful themselves…

Comet keeps smiling, however, and pats his shoulder, eyes closed

"I'm fairly certain your children are entirely alright, especially now." She moves, heels clacking against the marble floor. "Huh...Q-Qqueen Comet?"

"After all...every single one of you here is a Mudmen, isn't that right?" She turns to them, almost playfully, right hand on her cheek, and an arm around her waist, standing next to the exit door

A deep silence falls on the room, before the knights start laughing loudly, banging their armored palms against the table...seriously, she goes through way too many of those. It's a riot, many of them being left breathless, and Comet joins together too, covering her mouth with her hand, laughing delicately.

The laugh goes for quite a while. "Oh, Queen, this is why you're "The Humorous!"" "Good joke, good joke…" "Haahaha…" Comet is still giggling a bit and opens the door, turning away from the meeting room "W-wait...where are you going Queen, the meeting isn't over!" One of them yells, voice cracking a bit.

"I wasn't joking." Her voice loses the mirth tone, become cold as steel. "Loveberry, you know what to do."

She closes the door, sealing the locks with a spell, and takes some steps back, counting to two. Almost immediately, blades of all sorts break through the door, screeches of rage quickly turn into terror with the sounds of twisting bone and Loveberry's roaring laughter.

"DAMN YOU A HUNDRED YEARS, BUTTERFLY. SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN BECAUSE WE WII- Oh no-"

"MY LIVER! SHE'S PUNCHING MY LIVER!"

"You call this breaking a spine, Mewmian, you sissies wouldn't know what break-OWWW MY SPIIIIIINEEEEE!"

Comet sympathizes, she really does. Sure, they were there to listen to her plans, make ambushes and such, and perhaps even poison her drink; Corn wasn't supposed to be green, no matter how much they say it's "an offering from their humble personal fields." But it's still a bunch of assassins stuck together in a room with Mina Loveberry.

She winces a bit. They didn't even begin to stand a chance. Were it any other person, Comet would most likely hear the sounds of clashing steel, inside that room is simply madness and pain, Midna's laughs and patronizing comments muffled by the door showing the single person in that room having any enjoyment at all of the situation. The door opens suddenly, the lock busting, with one of the Mudmen wearing the armor trying to drag themselves out...contrary to slimes, mudmen actually did have skeletons, after all...sure, it's mostly the hardened inner mud, but it still hurt.

So, seeing this one with his legs wrapped around like a Pretzel was...wew.

"Queen Moon, I regret everything! I regret everything I've ever done! Please, have mercy, I'll say anything, I'll say **aaanyyythiiingg!** " The spy pleads, his eyes wide in sheer panic, stretching the hand towards her.

"Oh, hohoho, oh no sir Tangerino!" A muscled hand grabs his head, cracking the armor easily, the faker's pupils widening. "Sorry, this one slipped my attention. I'll leave the room tidy and clean after I've...dealt with them." Loveberry's hulking form smiles at what she thinks is a pleasant grin, but it's nothing short of a shark grinning at a goldfish, before she turns, and drags the mudmen by the head, his screams of terror echoing on the halls, even muffled by the closed door with the banged up lock.

The guards by the door are looking completely pale, and to Comet's credit, her smile did falter a bit, as she could still hear the...sounds. Shaking her head, she motions at the guards, and start heading down the hallway. The Mudmen were insidious and crafty, but in the end, it was easy for the ruler to identify them once they were "clever" enough to infiltrate her higher ranks.

It was an elegant solution, to root them out, really; Amongst her circle, everyone knew Loveberry was...odd. Very much odd. So absolutely no one would even be phased by her shenanigans at the round table; the fact they even acknowledged her…"plan", was a sure sign… Another reason she sent Moon so quickly. So far, they've kept the "Mina Contingency" very much under wraps, as well…

The Mudmen in the "meeting room" won't be going anywhere anytime soon, she giggles a bit nervously, walking just a tad faster alongside her guards, who were more than happy to leave Mewni's Greatest Warrior to her...artwork. Eventually, the contingency plan is going to leak, and the next infiltrators will not fall to the bait that is Mina's Behaviour.

Her smile falters completely, replaced by a frown, as she reaches the royal chambers, the knights planting themselves on each side, as she enters her own room; She doesn't waste much time before heading to the balcony, looking at her kingdom above, deep in thought.

She needs to send someone to check on Moon, to take care of her...she loves her daughter, she really does, but her own...strictness makes her have such a hard time making friends, the poor dear. She really closes herself off from someone if she doesn't feel comfortable with them; She can't just send anyone.

She needs someone Moon already trusts, and that any off behaviour would be immediately noticed...a friend of hers and a friend to Comet too. Someone strong, that would be the first shield for her. Someone...like…

Hmm. It's a dangerous gamble, but she lives in dangerous times. There is a knock on the door, stealing her attention "Your Highness, the Magical High Commision is here."

Ah. The meeting with her _actual_ advisors, yes.

"Send them in." Moon smiles, giving one last adjustment to her hair, before sitting on the edge of the bed, hands on her lap in a practiced motion, as she took in the presence of the, arguably, most powerful beings in the Multiverse. And very much dear friends.

"Sir Glossaryck, you came too? Oh, what joy!" She gives a toothy grin, as Hekapoo quickly moves from the door and throws herself on the bed and stretches, to the astonishment of the guards around, with Lekmet and Rhombulus entering next, with the former looking around with his usual suspicion and the latter...well, just standing there, like he's want to do. Now, where is Omnitraux…?

"If you're looking for the skelly head" Hekapoo starts, turning to her with her closed fist supporting her head. "He's not going to be able to attend today's meeting. Something about an issue he and Father Time are having…" Comet widens her eyes a bit, that must be very serious…

She shakes her head, and gets up, addressing everyone in the room.

"Very well. Let's begin the first meeting of the Mewni Monster Conflict Resolution."

* * *

"Ouch!"

"Not quick enough."

River falls on the ground, for the...thirty...thirty-seven...ah whatever, a number of times, the young boy wearing nothing but a white tank top, and cotton brown pants. On his hand is a wooden sword, and his body is absolutely covered with bruises, some smaller and others...nastier.

Especially on the forehead why is Dirt aiming so much at his fore-

"OUCH!" He holds it again, as Dirt hits it again with the tip of the sword, this time on his wrist, making him drop his weapons; River has barely any time to react before feeling weightless, and his back slamming against the dirt, and a foot plants itself on his stomach, kicking all the air out. He groans loudly, wincing as he hears Dirt's particularly annoying noisy laughter, closing his eyes and catching his breath.

"You know...for a "knight of honor and fair play", you don't really play by the rules!" He complains, getting up, wincing slightly.

"Second round you tried throwing dirt in my face." Dirt replies automatically.

"It _is a legitimate, viking strategy_!" River shoots back, picking up his wooden axe, and wringing the handle.

"Sure thing, River" He spins the sword with his hands, tauntingly so. River rolls his eyes, and cracks his neck "Anyway, what were you trying to teach me again?" He asks, scratching his head...and picking out a worm from his hair.

"First and foremost, don't pick things from the ground, River. You don't know where they've been." River shrugs, throwing the worm off. "Second, you're relying way too much on your weapon on your attacks! Moon's personal bodyguards should be able to use everything in their arsenal for combat." He replies, seemingly wiping the dirt from his dummy sword.

"I was using the dust!" He replies...then rushes towards Dirt, Dummy Axe raised and a warcry!

Dirt simply sighs, and as River is in his swinging motion, he puts one foot out, tripping the warrior and making him fall face-first. "You're really too predict-" Dirt gasps, as a handful of soil, hits his face, making him close his eyes, trying to clean "Gooot yaaa~" River says, singsong, quickly getting up from his prone position and swinging his axe. Dirt blocks it with his own sword, before sliding the blade on the lower crevice of the axe, and giving a spin on his handle, making river lose his grip on the Axe, disarming him. Dirt doesn't stop either, not giving him much of a time to breathe before a quick jab, and a nose punch makes him grip the face in pain. He peeks one eye to open at Dirt's next maneuver, which…

Kicking his legs to make him fall, right! He shoves himself forward before Dirt can react, making him fall in the ground.

"Hah! Got you! One point for me, Dirt!" He points at him, a wide grin on his expression, going to fetch his own dummy axe.

"Alright. One done. Thirty-Seven to go" Dirt replies curtly, brushing off the dirt out of his own training clothes.

"...jerk." He replies, looking to the side. "Why River, good punch. You're showing a lot of progression, River! You're a powerful warrior, River…" He mumbles to himself, gripping the handle of his Axe and looking at Dirt again.

"Ready?"

" **AAAAAAAAAAAGH!** "

"Good enough."

* * *

After an hour of intense training, River just falls on the ground, breathing deeply. Dirt is leaning on the tree, arms folded, looking at the castle in a thoughtful expression. River...isn't a very smart person, but even someone like him can understand when someone looks troubled. He laughs a bit, and calls him "Hey Dirt!"

It doesn't work. "Dirt?"

"Mud?"

That does indeed work, Dirt turning to glare at him slightly. "Don't call me that."

"You were looking like you were trying to burn a hole in the Castle." River mentions, trying to raise himself from the ground...he really, really tried. But all it did was fall flat on the earth again like a sack of rocks…

Dirt didn't mess around with their training, did he?

"Moon didn't come today." He speaks, in a low tone of voice. Just like that, however, River does notice that too...Moon isn't very keen on their brawls, but she does always like to look around, make sure they do it "safely" and "cautiously"

"Bah! Warriors didn't need things like "safety", and "proper stretching", or "headgear"! he didn't see Uncle Rwyghnstlyn need any of that! He would just laugh at all of that! And everything else she might say. Or about how he really should stop banging his head against the wall and oh Valhalla the wall is breaking, the roof's collapsing, quick he has to get to Moon, her fragile body will break under the rubble but River's strong constitution will-"

"River, you're daydreaming again." Dirt mentions deadpan.

"Oh Moon, don't worry, your warrior's here…"

"Oh, for Corn's sake." He throws his hand in the air, moving towards River, who just looks like he is anywhere but here. Looking at him, his smile slowly widening, as he looks around, leaving River to his daydreams.

"Oh, River. Thank you for saving me~" Moon says, being held in The Great And Amazing Warrior River, his bare muscled ten pack left to the world to see, his beard and long hair floating on the air…

"You know...I really like guys with really...really big beards. And amazing hair~" Moon puts a hand on his cheek, while River's glowing cerulean eyes.

Oh, did he mention how he towered over Moon? Oh, and everyone else. His strong, hairy arms bring him closer to his face, his puckered lips already aiming for a kiss; Moon closes her eyes, going closer and closer…

And they kiss! Wait...why is Moon's lips so... _slimy?!_

River's eyes open wide as he comes back to reality...kissing a frog, Dirt's clearly amused expression haunting him. He rolls over to his hands and knees and begins to spit.

"OH SPIRITS OH GODS, I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT AGH IT'S STILL IN MY MOUTH I CAN STILL TASTE IT DIRT YOU AGH I CAN STILL TASTEEEE IIIITTT!" River's desperate tries to clean the putrid, horrid taste goes to licking trees, as Dirt simply keeps watching, looking more and more amused by the moment.

Dirt's attitude had gotten a lot better these days, really. Before, the jerk would just either disregard or coldy treat the young warrior-in-training, preferring to pamper or upstage Moon in every step. He made impressing Moon look so effortless that River couldn't help but be completely jealous; He kept trying to upstage him, especially when he already offered help, and many of these times it simply ended with him and/or Moon bailing him out of trouble…

His self-confidence took quite a nosedive. But no one will say that all River Johansen was going to lay down and let all the troubles step on him like Auntie Brynghilda!

Seriously, she does. It's really weird and makes him uncomfortable.

So he went and simply asked like a gentleman...Well, more like begged for like, a week. Crying too.

Dirt probably accepted out of desperation to shut him up. Just as planned!

Adjusting himself to a sitting position, he hmms a bit, and shrugs "Wasn't her song-day some days ago? I think she got her wand and is practicing." Dirt makes a noncommittal grunt, extending his hand and holding a branch, rubbing it with his thumb, looking clearly anxious…"Something wrong, you look...kinda pale." River turns to him, his jovial expression showing some worry for his friend...well more like training partner really.

Dirt was, after all, still kind of a jerk.

"I just feel there's something odd" He shakes his head, and sheaths his dummy sword "I...really have a lot in my head right now. Have a good day, River." Dirt says, heading back back towards the city.

His words can't help but plant a seed of doubt in the young warriors mind...before he hears the sound of a wild boar. An ecstatic glint in his eyes and smile, and he picks his dummy axe, delving deeper in the woods, eager to put the training into practice!

The ensuing squeals came from either him or the boar. Hard to say.

* * *

Something or someone tipped them off. That's the thought of the general of the Monster army as his soldiers walk on the abandoned streets of the smoldering small village, the houses long since ashen, most of them collapsed into piles of smoldering rubble, clothes and belongings scattered carelessly through on the ground, clearly forgotten in a panic.

"Boss, they've razed the fields too." A kappa said, looking around while twirling his two butterfly knives

"I'm hungry! I was hoping for a quick snack right now!" A cockatrice says, beak salivating...

"Yeah, some corn would really hit the spot with all the walking, y'know?"

"...yeah. The corn. Right…"

"...wai-" The avarian turns to the other before a whistle is heard, coming from the cloaked septarian.

All that the cloaked general has to do is raise one of his hands, the army behind him falling into silence instantaneously. Like a wraith, he moves down the single street down the abandoned village, the smell of smoke burning his nostrils. His eyes flash left and right, trying to find anybody, any sign of struggle or battle...anything that would simply mean that perhaps some monsters decided to take the banner into their own hands.

But nothing. No trace whatsoever of conflict...it's clear the fleeing was panicked, but intentional, if the traces on the dirt of the caravan wheels and feet were any indication; his gaze drifts further across the land, locking upon the tower of the Butterfly Castle; he simply sighs in annoyance, his ear picking up the noises of a conflict and a certain wet sound.

"Cockatrice, spit him out."

The cockatrice looks at him, trying his hardest to look innocent, even as he's clearly shaking, something struggling inside of him. "I don't know what you're referring, gracious Gen-"

"Rasticore, punch him out." Toffee basically spits the order, the fellow Septarian punching the chicken's stomach, a kappa covered in saliva jumping out in the air. He's clearly trembling, in a fetal position. The general rubs this temples, seething in frustration.

"I think I've made absolutely clear before; there will be **no** eating each other. I don't care for the Mewmans, do as you want, but eating each other is stealing soldiers from me." He speaks, his voice completely matter-of-fact.

"And you don't want to steal from me. I'll let it pass for now, but the next time I see someone trying to make a snack out of the other, then I'll send a letter to your families about how you've suicided with three arrows at the back of your head." He continues emotionlessly. "Well...you'll simply disappoint me." The army falls in silence, and he continues "After all, we'll simply be proving them right, that we're truly irredeemable, mindless beasts and that they were right to be banished if we're so eager to...go after our own." He pauses, glaring at the offender "If we're to win this war, we must be united."

The cockatrice, who is now sweating buckets due to the glare Toffee is keeping at them, simply gasps in terror...and lays an egg.

Silence falls.

"..." Roaring laughter ensues, the cockatrice going from terrified to utterly furious, picking up the egg and throwing on the head of one of the cyclops, who then aimed a punch, and it hit the Minotaur instead...in minutes, there was simply a full-blown brawl among the army, the general and the green septarian staring at it, one in grave silence, the other in clear amusement, if the toothy grin was any indication.

"Wow, they're really brainless, haha...good thing we're not like them, right boss?...Boss?"

Rasticore, only to see Toffee banging his head against a lamppost slowly...he laughs a little more, before that dies off quickly as he turns back to his sole kin in this army; even hidden by the cloak, he could still see the burning stare he was receiving.

"When the **children** are done playing, please do tell them to get the winged ones to fly around the area; they are probably far, but I don't think they reached the Butterfly Castle yet. I'm not letting myself be humiliated this way." He says, and already starts walking back towards the woods, fists still clenched.

"Right away boss."

Even in the brawl, none dared to even get close or nudge the general, for that was a true deathwish. His mind was running loops, replaying his meetings with spies and other tribes, trying to find any weak link that possibly is spying on them…

Maybe the King is having a moral crisis? No, he was a complete and utter pushover, he wouldn't even start to consider betraying him; Toffee had absolutely no desire continue any dealings with that obese mammal after he was enough bait for the Queen.

Once they took the bait, and he had the royal family gone, as well as the wand, then his true plans could begin. Toffee was a patient player, a necessity considering his nature; for now, he'll simply keep pressuring the kingdom, and "giving the territories to the rightful owners." But...a spy is a weak link, and his plans can ill afford any blabbermouth learning about the general, and he still has a reputation to uphold. With a frustrated groan, he picks up his pace, wanting to be as unassociated with the mess happening behind him as he possibly can.

The sooner he can get the Butterflies done with, the sooner he can stop pretending to care about this "conflict".

And in particular, this army can be cast into the sea and allowed to drown as quickly as he can possibly arrange.

* * *

"The number in reach is currently occupied, please call at a later time."

Moon keeps waiting for the call, but her mother doesn't answer the phone. She frowns a bit, before delicately turning away from the mirror, and heading towards her bed. "I suppose Mother is dedicating to her duties, as a queen should…" Moon mutters to herself, shutting down the mirror "...was I slowing her down? Was that the reason she sent me?"

Moon immediately shakes her head, discarding that thought. Her mother was a kind, loving person, she wouldn't lie about her condition on Earth! It was for her safety and her learning, nothing besides that!

...She hopes.

Nonetheless, tomorrow should be a weekend, which on Earth meant no school class...perhaps she'll be able to actually **start** practising her own magic! The thought of it makes her giddy, and it's with these thoughts that the young heiress fall asleep, laying the wand at one of the nightstands by the bedside.

By late evening, a pale, albino moth flies inside Moon's room, landing by her chest. It chitters a bit, before seemingly curling up and sleeping on top of her chest too.

Her wand and Moon's cheekmarks glew very faintly and would do until the moth flew away by early morning, still fairly too early for the heiress to wake up.

* * *

 **And we have some perspective of Mewni in the troubling times of 1992! Let me know what you thought of it all in the comments! Catching up should be the next story updating! Until then, Fireware, signing off! Don't forget to Review!**


	5. Waxing Crescent

**Kept you waiting, huh? Chapters are a little shorter than usual (I'm trying to work on longer chapters, but it's hard to shake off old habits). My editor got a little tired, so this chapter may be a biiitt rough. Fixes might happen in the future, but I figure you've all waited long enough. SVTFOE and Daron Nefcy are owned by Disney and...**

 **Wait I got something wrong there...**

 **Krusa1 - I would appreciate if you kept your ideas to maybe PMs or something. I would like the reviews to be relevant to the story, y'know :x**

 **Allen and Cyrtus - I do agree Mina was truly underused, at least until the recent season. Changes, hoo!**

 **Guest - I like to think it's part of the character's charm...albeit, this fic wise, Toffee does have a plan.**

* * *

A four-year-old Moon stands completely still, a toothy practiced grin and hands folded behind her back, walking down one of the Butterfly Castle many hallways, a small pile of books on top of her head. Moving along at her side is her caretaker, a strict old woman...but even through her complex, weary expression she can't help but smile at the sight of the young princess.

"Excellent, Princess Moon. You're truly walking like a dignified heir…"

Moon nods, the small girl allowing herself a small grin as she walks, guards and nobles turning to look at her...until a point her shoe lace unmakes itself, the princess accidentally tripping herself up, hitting face first the ground with a muffled thud.

"P-princess Moon!" The caretaker immediately rushes to the young girl, lifting her up...she has some scratches on her face, which she rubs gingerly...and opens her mouth, pushing a single teeth that got loose from the fall. "M-mommy…" Her eyes start to water, the caretaker sighing, and picking up a cloth, starting to clear up her wounds…

"Princess Moon...I know it hurts a lot, but, always remember" Her raspy, sage voice echoes, a firm yet motherly tone… "A monarch must always look as unyielding as a monolith…"

"A-and magnificent a-as t-the first golden harvested fr-from the sun" The Princess tries to cry-speak, wincing as the maid's clothes clean up the dirt and small blood coming from her scrapes. "Close, but not it. Looks like you will need to repeat the lessons, after all." She finishes cleaning her up, and brushes moon's dress slightly, shaking the dirt. "Now, tie up your laces, and pick up the books, we're heading back to the entrance, trying it again."

Moon hiccups a bit, gingerly picking up her books, and following her caretaker…

"Moon, don't distract yourself with the painted windows. Do it again."

"Moon, playtime only after your duties, keep your eyes on the path ahead."

"Moon, Queens don't hop stairs. Pick the books, do it again…"

"Moon, you're distracting yourself too much…!"

…

"That's not how a princess acts."

 ** _\- O -_**

"I can do better!" Moon woke up, gasping in shock, cold sweat drenching her body. She takes deep breaths, trying to calm herself as the book of spells opens up, her mentor materializing from it on pajamas, rubbing his eye as her panic undoubtedly woke him up.

"G-...glossaryck. Good...good morning." She turns to her magic mentor, awkwardly smiling, gripping her blanket. Glossaryck turns to the window, where the sun is starting to rise, and back to Moon, who just forces her grin bigger.

"Yes, good morning indeed." Moon figures he didn't even need to put any effort in the sarcasm, she would wince even from a half-hearted glare at this point "What was with all the racket?" He yawns again, clearly tired

"Oh...nothing, just...dreams, I guess."

"Well, next time you have dreams please don't shout at five in the morning, Moon. I think...today is weekend, right?" Glossaryck pulls a calendar, analyzing it scrutinously. "Yes, I think it is...that means, if I recall correctly, no...classes, right?" She gets off from her bed, stretching "Seems like it. Anyway, I'll try to catch the rest of my sleep, and we will start when I wake up...again" He deadpans, making Moon giggle embarrassedly again, and turns the book to close it.

After stretching, she moves towards the window, a decisive expression on her face...she's not committing the same mistakes from the last time. Taking one good look at the morning Echo Creek, she takes a breath "Good Morning, Echo Creek!" She looks at the city with a small grin, and the singing of birds following her proclamation makes it even better to the point she can't help but pump her first, yes she got it right!

The sounds of a car crash in the distance, and spooking some of the birds by the railing ruins only part of the magic...only partially.

The first part of her morning ritual done, she goes down the stairway of her tower, heading towards the other rituals...brushing her teeth, taking her shower. There isn't any plumbing by her tower, which made the public restroom her "private" restroom. Dutifully heading towards the ladies one, she enters and smiles, beginning the morning habit.

She suspects that Sky uses this restroom, because it's utterly spotless, clashing with the "aesthetic" of the outside. But well, she can't complain really. Or will, clean restrooms are a complete relief. Picking up her brush, she begins refreshing herself and preparing for the next day.

After a few moments, a particularly cold shower, and some fumbling around, Moon leaves the restroom, her hair still wet from the shower and the lack of a drier, a red dress looking the same as the style she's been for the last two days; she does frown a bit at that, silently mouthing a promise to look for Echo Creek weavers for perhaps a more Earth-style dress; it wouldn't do to constantly look like a foreigner, would it? Now...for a breakfast, Sky should be bringing some for her, right?

With these thoughts, she starts to absently minded hear the faint sounds of one of those mechanical carriages moving...huh, this neighborhood is so quiet normally, how odd… she picks up a rubber band, tying her hair to a ponytail, her expression going slowly from disinterested to cautious

Wait...it's getting closer...and closer...

Oh no…

As a roaring bear breaking through the foliage, so is the van, a blur of rainbow colors and the roar of a bloodthirsty beast speeding towards her sanctuary, Moon couldn't help but screech, raising her wand.

"Levitato LEVITATO LEVITATO!" Moon screams, pointing her hand at the speeding van, eyes closed, teeth gritting being ready for the impact...it never comes...after a while, she warily open, seeing nothing but the smoking trails…

"Whew...what was that?" She relaxes, rubbing her face "did...the monster army find me that quickly? No, no they probably would want to bring me home…" She releases a sigh…

"Wasn't that van rainbow colored?" Glossaryck calls from the tower, Moon expression going from thoughtful to horrified…

Didn't...Sky said before she had a van?

" _ **MADRE DE DIOS WE'RE GOING TO DIE, AAAAAAAAAAAA"**_

" **GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM, WE HAVE LIFTOFF, HAHHAHAHAHA!"**

" **SKY ARE YOU CLINICALLY INSANE?!"**

" **LAAAA LA LA LALA, LALALALAAAAAAAA!"**

" **¡ESTE NO ES EL MOMENTO DE SING STARMAN!"**

"Corn in the sky, Rafael too? Don't worry, I'll save you both!" Moon runs to the edge of her terrain, wand glowing as an ethereal cord is conjured, quickly turning on a lasso, as she spins her wand.

"Well, that is a wall to solve your issue." Glossaryck floats next to her, Moon not acknowledging the blue man as she spins, before moving her wand forward, the lasso catching the backside of the van (any recommended part). Moon immediately grips it hard, wisely so as the break of momentum, even in the weightless of the vehicle due to the spell.

"A-agh!...what in the name of all that is good and beautiful, SKY **WHAT WERE YOU DOING?** " Seriously, a single day! A single day!

"Well, duh, bringing breakfast." Sky head pops out of the driver's side window, looking at Moon like it was the most natural thing in the world…

"Bringing breakfast? Why can't you bring breakfast with your legs, and not like a maniac?!"

"This place doesn't have tables! Sheesh, thanks for the gratuitous insults for an act of _generosity!_ "

"...Why is Rafael with you, it's like 6 in the morning…" Moon sighs, giving up. She's not going to argue that point, it's a rabbit hole that no one wins…

"Oh, I always mooch food from him." She says, completely matter of fact

" It's...payment...for the art classes...o-oh I'm going to get sick…" His head pops out of the other window, looking ready to puke.

"You both know each other?"

"Sadly…" He mutters as his last before he can't hold it anymore. Moon turns away with a disgusted expression as Rafael opens the gates and simply let it all out.

"Whew! I'm sad for whoever's under us! Anyway, can you pull us down, Moon?" She turns back to the car, waving her hand, Moon clearly gritting her teeth.

"I'm definitely getting payback for this, just you see…" She talks through gritted teeth, starting to pull the car using the ethereal cord.

"Swearing revenge isn't very much princess-like." Glossaryck responds, already eating another cup of pudding.

"Ah, it's not revenge...it's simply educating my personnel about the proper respect to their leaders…" Moon replies, still pulling...and turning it again as Rafael pukes... _again_.

Glossaryck would like to tease more, but simply allows himself to stretch, and get ready for another day...indeed, every Moon is followed by the sun and the stars, indeed.

\- _**O**_ -

It took a while to get Rafael to stop vomiting and suffice to say, both of them were completely unamused by Sky's antics. Right now, both of them were sitting in the dining room inside the van. It was fairly simple, but it still impressed Moon somewhat, the walls being this faded yellow-white, the dining room being a simple plastic table with a surrounding sofa. The walls, to Moon's confusion, seemed to be Sky's...paintings.

A lot of them seemed to be, in her opinion, simply a lot of paint thrown on the canvas. Or just _weird_ paintings, with Moon thinking a lot of them looking more like some kind of extra-dimensional being than actual...abstraction, she's not sure feet or hands are supposed to be that big; Rafael explained it seemed to be more of an artistic choice, but that just confused Moon even more

Why would artists want to paint anything that simply looked ugly and surreal?

Right now, Moon is seated comfortably on the dining table, the smell of frying eggs enticing everyone around, Moon looking outside the window, the sight of Echo Creek's early morning bringing a small smile.

"Say, Rafael, what's an _abuella?_ "

Rafael looks back from the oven, and gives a smile "It's my grandma, I live with her" Moon widens her eyes a bit, and tilts "Oh? Alongside your parents?" Rafael shakes his head " _Padre_ and _Madre_ work as...investigators, you have that where you're from?" Rafael continues after Moon gives a positive nod. "Yes, they investigate very bad people. It's dangerous to be near them, you know?"

Moon looks away for a moment "More than you imagine…"

"Hmm?"

"Nothing! So, what will the breakfast be?"

Rafael blinks before he shrugs and does an exaggerated twirl, leaving her only confused at the meaning of the act "Sky thinks I'm some gourmet chef only because I can work her oven." He rolls his eyes. "Have you ever had pancakes?"

"What's that?"

"Oh, you're going to love it. Pancakes, with some honey...and an apple, sounds good?"

Moon shrugs, the plate being set on the table, while Rafael seems simply content with a banana, Moon look quizzically as she daintily takes a piece of the weird, fluffy bread, and taking it to her mouth with the honey...with a pleased hmm, she takes eats with less wariness.

"Oh...how pleasing! You must tell me what goes in these pancakes!" She turns to Rafael, who just shrugs. "So, what will you be doing today, Princess?" He asks, uncapping a bottle of orange juice, Moon graciously accepting it. "I'll be training my magic, I gather. I've been putting that away for the whole week, habituating myself with Earth, you sure understand."

"So...hmm...can you both untie me now?"

"No." They both chorused.

"Come on, it was funny, you got to admit!"

"It wasn't."

Sky groans loudly, still trying to reach for her breakfast, to the sadistic amusement of her friends. Moon looks at the Magical Grimoire sitting next to her seat, patting it slightly...today is another first step, indeed.

A first step to be a spellcaster of the butterflies!

Sky is currently tied to the seat, a plate of scrambled eggs and chocolate milk next to her, but no way to reach it...she tries inclining herself to even take a single bite.

"Will you need some help with directions, I take it?" Rafael asks, finishing his banana

"As a matter of fact, yes, yes I will. I'm not going to impose your help, however. I simply need to find a place that is more...remote, to avoid another witnessing incident."

"I know a spot in the woods, I'm sure it will be great for you, I go there for nature inspiration...just…"He pauses a bit, tapping his lips and pointing his index at her wand "just don't do anything destructive, okay? A true man always protects nature." he finishes, deepening his voice.

Dork.

Moon nods with a smile and finishes up her breakfast, Sky's protests falling on deaf ears.

\- _**O -**_

This time much more calmly, Sky's van parks nearby a park of Rafael's choosing. The teenagers leave, stretching, Moon asking Rafael again if that wood was really, really safe, each time making the boy laugh more, and re-assure their worries. Soon enough, after checking their supplies, and relaxing Moon and guaranteeing that they wouldn't need to bring armor or weapons, the trio got inside the park.

One thing Moon has to give to Earth's woods is that they feel much, much calmer than Mewni's woods. The almost oppressive enclosure of the forest of certain death is utterly absent here, sunlight cleanly cutting through the foliage of the trees, and the general sense of dread is replaced by a sense of calmness lacking even in the main city. The trees aren't as tall and sturdy as she expected them to be, but perhaps, much like everything on Earth, this is a reflection of the much kinder and calmer world. Rafael does mention with some sadness how some people have been dumping trash near it, but Moon thinks it's an even bigger sign of the peacefulness of Earth that people can just get close in the first place!

The group is walking, Rafael carrying a canvas under his arm, and Sky some paint buckets, the girl taking the opportunity to watch both "inspiring, ethereal artwork in energies she can't witness on Earth", and to continue Rafael's lessons. Moon tried to ask Sky's age, which she just gave an enigmatic smile, and Rafael a shoulder shrug…

The girl didn't look that much older than her, so perhaps she's just being annoying as always. Even with all this safety, however, reflexes die hard, Moon constantly jumping at every sudden foliage break, or stepping on twigs, her hand pointed at the direction...most of the "monsters" she tries to cover for the group being simply bunnies and even the odd antler…

"So, in your world, most of these creatures think like people?"

"I wouldn't say it's a complete translation for every Earth wild beast I've seen in the school, but you wouldn't be wrong there are certain equivalencies, truly, even in regard of what beasts you might think it's magical!"

"Oh. Do you think we know them because some people saw them before, and the tales spread?" Rafael turns, rolling his shoulder and adjusting the easel a bit. Moon blinks a bit, and looks up…

Indeed, many beasts she saw in the folklore books on the library during her studies were, as a matter of fact, beasts she was familiar with on Mewni. Unicorns, Pegasi, Demons, fairly common beings on Mewni seems to be nothing but myths on Earth! Perhaps there were other visitors to Earth before? Or vice-versa? Hekapoo, however, is older than the two dimensions, so that wouldn't happen without her knowledge…

So, the beasts were brought, and the presence of demons was enough to leave a mark, but they did not stay nor settle? And the beasts died? But even then, the writings do mention how hard it was to get to them, which meant it was few enough as it is…

As much as she focuses, she can't come to an answer...loosening the strap on her grimoire, she turns to the book on her back, opening the massive guide with ease, to the small surprise of her followers

"Glossaryck, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That we definitely should get more pudding, perhaps even one of those coldboxes from Earth? Yes, I completely agree." He pops from Moon's chapter, cleaning his ear with his small finger.

"...we don't have electrical outlets." She groans in frustration at her teacher, disappointed at the fact she expected actual seriousness...

"Your imagination and clever solution to problems are lacking, Princess. But, I don't blame you, it's simply another topic we're going to work on. Do call me when we're ready to begin I…*yawn*, want to get as much shut-eye as I can." Glossaryck dismisses her, closing the book, Moon's expression a mix of unfeeling neutrality, and frustration.

No one takes her seriously here. Her two friends on Earth are an overdramatic goof, and an insane rainbow-haired irritating "roommate"; the students of her school are now prone to call her "princess" and treat her like royalty, both sarcastically if one considers the...cheerleader team, I think that's their denomination, and others...more real, but being simply creeps, like the ones with the really thick, large glasses. She gets stares over her dresses, and comments over how she's looking like a doll…

It's frustrating, it really is.

"Hey, Moon, why you're slowing down? Come on, I can already hear the river!" Sky bellows, shaking her from her stupor.

The girl wears some sort of coat, like her chemistry teacher, her rainbow hair made in two pigtails, as well as loose baggy brown pants and the same bunny slippers, somehow un-messed by the dirt, while Rafael is with a white tank top and black yoga pants and black boots. He gives her a broad, toothy smile, and beckons at her with his free hand.

"I know, Nature is truly beautiful, but you can't lose focus Moon!"

Moon can't help but look at them. Her two friends. Two persons that call her name without anything but friendliness...that means a lot to her.

Her mind wavers back to the nightmare of this morning...but this time the good part of it.

\- _**O -**_

It's close to the night, the sun's orange rays hitting the ancestral stained glass of Mewni's Queens...even in her childish mind, the young princess knew she was going to be there someday, at her momma's side. The thought of it filled her with excitement but…

It's so hard! Ms. Prim didn't let her rest, and they kept repeating and repeating and repeating the exercise! She was tired, she wanted to see her mother! She's hungry, she wants her nap!

That was all complaints her caretaker took, and simply made her return even more...an hour ago, she was going from the garden to Mother's Room! The tear marks running down her eyes are already dry, the girl's legs trembling, the books on top of her head, the Caretaker at her side looking completely formal, as she knocks the door. With a muffle of asking for a minute, the royal chamber doors open, Comet looking out and then down, on her daughter's tired, crying form and the Caretaker formal position.

"Queen Comet, I'm sad to say that your daughter's etiquette work will require more intensive work. To make her walk flawlessly from her room to your majesty's chambers took the whole day, even with the small grace checkpoints. She couldn't stop complaining, and acting very unprincess like…"

Moon hiccups, to which the Caretaker turns to her with a glare, the hiccup being shoved down quite nicely.

"...I can make it work nicely, but I would recommend a short stay at St. Olga's Young Formation Princess School branch, simply to...work these small kinks, before a true princess can blossom forth. She will make an excellent queen, there is no doubt about it, but it's better to teach from the crib, to make a strong heir for Mewni." The Caretaker speaks again, all of the early warmth of her voice gone, speaking as complete matter of fact

Her Mother sees Moon, that immediately straightens up, and looks at her in the eyes, wiping her eyes...her mother's eyes watches all over her form before she smiles.

"I see, Ms. Prim. Well, you shan't be needing to worry about her...quirks, I can tell you that much." She turns to Prim, who smiles a bit, and puffs her chest a bit. Moon feels her mother's arms lifting her up, and she turns to face Prim.

"However, that will not be necessary." Prim faces at her in surprise, as Comet continues, smiling "I do believe that certain irresponsibilities must be treated, of course, but I've been to St. Olgas." Her smile gets even wider, as Prim suddenly looks very nervous, her mother's tone still delightful, but carrying...an edge.

"I do believe as a Mewni heir, she must have her own personality, not simply be another copy of Ms. Heinous' frankly...harsh methods of education"

"How can you say that Q- I...I mean your majesty!" Prim quickly rectifies herself as two lance blades get fairly near her neck, the small sweat intensifying "The harsher treatments for St. Olga would only apply on rebellious, drama-causing princesses! Even now, Moon isn't that!"

Comet keeps her smile, pushing Moon's head against her chest, the tired girl still looking at Prim "I was watching, the whole thing Prim. How you lured my daughter with a maternal sense, I was hoping you would be a kind and fair caretaker to my only daughter...but you simply held her to unreasonable expectations for a child."

"That child is the future Queen of Mewni!"

"Call my daughter her name. Or, truly don't. You don't have much of a future in these castle halls. Send Mrs. Heinous my regards, Prim."

Moon doesn't see Prim's expression, as Comet turns away, closing the door...Moon can, however, hear her screeches as the guards take hold of her arms, taking her away. Comet sits by a rocking chair, laying Moon on her lap...her mother's caring, loving gaze breaks her composure, the girl pulling Comet's chest and crying openly on her dress, the stress of the whole day with Prim coming out like floodworks…

"Let it all out, Moon...there's no shame in feeling, or being." She hears as she feels her mother's tender hand rubbing her back…"Oh, she was such a meanie to you, wasn't she? Couldn't even bother hiding the scratches, corn almighty…" She lifts the young princess, laying her on the rocking chair alone, Moon extending her hands as to grasp Comet, to not let go…

Comet reaches for her wand...well, technically a lyre; it wasn't unusual for some of the Queen's wands to be fairly non-traditional, Festivia's wand being a fair example. Pulling the strings, Comet starts playing, the sobbing of Moon slowing as she sings her favorite lullaby…

 _Perfect Princess Moon…_

 _She's great in every way!_

 _Everything she says and does…_

 _Is absolutely right!_

Soon, the crying is quieted down to very shy hiccups, the princess feeling...sleepy.

 _Her hair is silky soft_

 _Her favorite color's pink_

 _She flosses every day_

 _And she never needs to sleep!_

Y-yeah...she doesn't need any sleep! Just a tiny nap...she's tired…

 _The perfect Princess Moon..._

 _She's nice in every way!_

 _Always in a sunny mood..._

 _Even on the cloudy days!_

Yeah! She likes to smile a lot! Especially when River comes to visit her! Or when Mommy takes her to the gardens, and she plays with the puppies and kitties! Ms. Prim was really really mean for not letting her play with her friends! Even tired, and on the border of consciousness, she gives a toothy grin, one of the baby teeth already out.

Then her mother stops, and Moon whines a bit "Sorry, dear! Don't want to ruin all of your song day surprises!" Moon's eye shines as she mentions the song day "Is that my-" "Maybe!" Both of them giggle, before Moon yawns… "Well. Looks like I was wrong in my song, you do need sleep!

Moon doesn't reply, starting to doze off. She feels a spell carefully lifting her, and moving the blankets of her mother's bed, tucking her comfortably. Her last sight before falling into unconsciousness is her kind words

"Anyone that calls you Moon first, and Princess second, is someone that loves you, dear. Don't forget that."

Moon blinks, looking at her friends who are still there, worried, but smiles still in their expressions...for a moment, she can almost see River and Dirt by their side, beckoning her too. Moon wipes some tears, and grins, pulling the bottom of her dress and rushing after them

"I'm coming, wait for me!" She joyfully shouts…

Unknown to them, however, on the darkest reaches of the woods, a pair of eyes seems to follow the small group...with a small growl, it moves in a dash, leaves on the ground being torn, it's movements utterly silent before a leap. From that, only the sound of something hitting branches, which is muffled by the river as the beast and the group gets near…

* * *

 **Hope you've all enjoyed the chapter! Rate 'n Review!**


	6. Waning Crescent

**You've all waited long enough. I might be a little slower on the updates as real life is getting in the way slighty, but no month long hiatuses, don't worry! Nonetheless, let's continue the story!**

 **Allen - It does yes, but to talk more would be kind of spoilerish!**

 **Guest - I do try, thanks 3**

 **Disney owns SVTFOE etc etc you all know this.**

* * *

Moon was very much excited! In fact, all she wanted to do right now was do a little dance of joy, no sarcasm at all, at how light her mind and heart were feeling! She would sing, and the animals and birds would join as always, then the less friendly animals would join together and they would start running, and then-

Well. There are reasons the songs of the Queens of old aren't used as openly as they were before; wondrous in paper, and in reality you're asking for a stampede, doubly so if you do in territory monsters have any access, then you're a dessert surrounded by the main course, and the song becomes a macabre melody of screams and bones snap-

Focus.

Moon is standing on a clearing after the walk, the river is seen through the trees in front of her; her bags and the grimoire lay on the soft grass. She can hear the birds chirping, the soft whistle of the wind moving the grass and leaves, the sound of the stream hitting against the rocks in the river, the singing of the cicadas...and Rafael and Sky arguing about "artistic" differences between the painting of nature. She didn't even need to understand to get to the root of what they were most likely arguing: Rafael would be arguing that nature needed to be interpreted as it is, a more classical view of art, impressionism at most, while Sky would argue that it's in the abstraction of the art that makes it true, and would try to be drawing a banana like an apple, and oranges like spaghetti noodles, to Rafael's dramatic frustration, and her laughs.

It's been like, some days, but she feels she has known the two of them for years now…

"Say, Glossaryck, why do I attract such odd friendships…?" She asks, fondness growing in her heart at the thought of her companionships.

"Probably because alike minds tend to attract each other." Glossaryck replies, stretching on a beach chair on a rock, flipping down his aviator sunglasses.

Yes, he's right. All four of them were kind-hearted, bright and open-minded individuals, fairly quirky and stubborn, but nonetheless loving friends she can love and appreciate, even if crazy in their own different ways.

...that was a backhanded compliment wasn't it. Moon's eyes narrow dangerously, glancing at Glossaryck who just looks at her with a grin of someone who knows exactly what he meant.

"...so, how do we begin?" Moon shakes off the annoyance, forcing herself to a practiced smile, not wanting to give to her magical mentor the satisfaction of her reactions. Frankly, at this point, the respect and excitement she has been building up for years of knowing the tales of the great Glossaryck are being more and more eroded as he teases her more and more! It's not fun!

Glossaryck takes off his aviator glasses, throwing them away somewhere, and stretching his limbs "Alright kid, let's start with the bare basics. Now, I know you already know Levitato, so the bare basics aren't that necessary...kid, what do you know about magic itself?" He turns to Moon, inquisitive expression written on him.

Ah, her time to shine. Clearing her throat, and straightening her back, she turns to Glossaryck, hands folded on her bag and confident smile on her face "Magic is the lifeforce of the universe, the energy present around all of the universes, dimensions and such, keeping everything together." She puffs her chest, proud of her answer

"Amazing. You said a lot of stuff and none of it was right." He replies, deflating her completely.

Ah. Of course she is, why did she expect anything more.

"That's the explanation I got from the most educated scholars from Mewni, taught by Queens from the past themselves through generations!" She waves her arms around, looking stupefied. Glossaryck rolls his eyes, and points to himself as if that was enough answer…

Oh...right. The embodiment of Magic. Yeah.

"Describing magic is like describing air. One can give long wield passionate speeches about the nature of it, but have you noticed how all they can do is draw comparisons? Almost every explanation seems to compare it to something." He begins calmly, and unusually serious, at least as far as Moon's experience with him was "A river. A force. An energy, so and so, because it's much easier to compare it with something they _know_ how it is than to truly, you know...try to get to the bottom."

"Are you going to say that magic is undefinable?" She picks up, eyes widening as she picks up his line of thought.

Glossaryck gives her finger guns "No, but you're already closer than any of those charlatans!"

"...that isn't a very nice thing to sa-"

"Anyway" He says, cutting her off as always "Magic isn't a river. Or an energy. Or a force. Or air. It...simply is."

"Simply...is?" Moon tilts her head, confused.

"Magic is what you want it to be. A canvas, a river, a blast! It isn't definitionless, it is what you want it to be. Spells are nothing more than exerting your will on the world at large." He waves his hand, smiling slightly "Anyone, with enough creativity, can make their own spells because it's all limited to what a person can think." He ends, looking at her…

"So...it's the concept of imagination, then?"Glossaryck nodded, she hums a bit, before nodding herself. "Yeah, I think I got it."

"Very well...then make a spell."

Easy enough, she just needs to-

"...your first lesson for me...is to make a spell. The first... _ **lesson**_ in...magic is to make an...spell. On the...concept that I'm supposed to...start learning." She comments, utterly in disbelief.

"Yes, good luck, take a look around, imagine the environment you know, take in that fresh, _clean air!_ I'll be around to see when it's done, now back to my sunbath." He returns to his chair, his hand extending as the aviator glasses rewind back in his face. Moon stands there, gaping and fuming like a goldfish, before giving a shout between a narwhal's cry and a tiger's roar, stomping her away from the clearing and back in the woods.

 _ **\- O -**_

Rafael, as far as he remembers, has wanted to create. That, for him, was a certainty as the pillars of being a true men, as the laws of physics, and as the superiority of his abuela's cooking; he was in this world to create, and to be a true _hombre_ , a Michelangelo of artistic virtues and family values, the closest that Mankind will ever get to the Vitruvian Man of Da Vinci!

That being said, as a true man, he shouldn't be prideful of his flawed creations of youth, as he knew every single artwork, every single action he took now was but a step of learning, one step to reach...the True Man's World. Sky was someone he knew for quite a while, a woman he tried to court once. **Once.** And much like Moon, he learned very quickly they weren't ever going to be possible _damsels;_ Although Moon has been simply very matter-of-fact over wanting only friends and not seeking any romance, Sky has replied to his advances by hurting his pride.

Physically and verbally. The ghost pain still haunts him to this very day. By all means, this should have been where their meeting would end, and they would go their own road of manliness...because Sky was, by all means, not a woman; he refused to think of her as anything like the female being, she might have the things, but the soul...the _alma..._ He digresses, anyway. Sky as a woman clearly was following the Man's Path, or more like the JERK-MEANIE path...but her talent as an artist was utterly undeniable for him...she's even a drop-out!

Everyone knows the best artists are the ones that give up basic education for the sake of art! He would have followed...if it wasn't for his abuella. He did...take the idea once.

 **Once. The ghost pains were even worse.**

Nonetheless, Sky's artistic skill was clearly superior to him, so if he couldn't follow on the same road as her, he could at least learn from her. That is how he became her "apprentice", or so she says, they're collaborators damn it! Both artists, following a road of Manliness, Creation, and the understanding of humanity's perfection.

Now, if Sky would just LET HIM FOC-

"That's boring. It would be so much better if you change the colors a little bit, perhaps aquarella"

"Sky. For the last time...it's...classical painting. I'm trying...a classical painting. OK?!" He turns to her, veins already popping, both of them sitting on the same log, canvas propped up. A sad twist of fate that Rafael and Sky, as artists...had clashing ideals of art itself. Rafael liked to portray it as it is, similar to the cameras, but with actual SOUL, and LIFE to it! Photographs didn't do justice, they were soulless machines, no!

Only paint and a **man's** vision can bring reality to...reality! But Sky thought of art in a more...abstract manner, one would say.

As in, everything looked really weird, the anatomy was all off, and it's really-

"OKAY THAT IS NOT IMPRESSIONISM, YOU'RE DOING TO ANNOY ME!"

"Oh, Rafael, I would never paint something with the clear intention of distracting and annoying you, nooo...not in a million years."

"Ah, okay because- wait was that sarca- WHY ARE YOU PAINTING THE LEAVES PINK"

"Ah, because, you know...I thought green was such a boring coloooorrr~"

"THERE'S NOTHING BORING ABOUT NATURE!"

Sky laughs loudly, holding her caveat, while Rafael goes on a long, massive tirade about the proper "color usage", and "limits of artistic vision when demonstrating something as perfect and pure as nature itself...yes, she did thrive in these moments. Moments where she just drove him to the walls!

But...suddenly like that, she stopped. It's as if someone flipped a switch, and for the first time in a very long time...he saw Sky take a serious expression; the whiplash was such that she even paused him from his tirade...right when he was taking his shirt too.

What a bummer.

"Rafael...can you be a dear, and move to the left in...five seconds" She whispers, holding her hand, and counting.

"Hmm...whyy-" He starts, before freezing at the sheer glare Sky gives him.

"Don't question my genius." She cuts him short, this time devoid of any of their usual humor…

"Two...one." She lowers her fingers, and Rafael lunges himself to the left as asked...his eyes widening and cold sweating as he felt...a black blur moves, for the briefest of moments, akin to an arrow. Rafael can't really get many details on it before it dashes back inside the forest, the creature somehow not making any sound whatsoever, and, in the same second, is already gone out of their sight. Rafael stands there, cold sweating "W-w-what was that…?!"

"Trouble." Sky finishes getting up, looking around "Where's Moon?" Her tone is clearly hasty, and as Rafael pales and looks around, he also notices the lack of the princess around them; as the friend's gaze reach each other, and unspoken agreement is settled with them, and side by side they rush out, after their dear friend.

 _ **\- O -**_

Create a spell. That's the instructions of her teacher, her mentor, on the first day ever of official spellcasting, the supposed first step to get to the point of creating her own spells!...is to make a spell. Blindly. With a day of experience with the wand at the most, casting basic spells like levitato...her order to learn is to make a SPELL.

She's going in circles, both figuratively, and literally. Right now she's going around a tree, scratching her head as she tries to wrestle _anything_ from her earlier magic lessons that might help her have any start to think of making a spell. Does she...simply say something with her wand, and hope for the best? Is there a ritual?

She picks her crystal heart wand, weighing it in her hand, frowning...so light, yet has such a massive legacy...she's but a bearer of it. A bearer of a dozen different generations of Queens…

AND SHE'S SUPPOSED TO MAKE A SPELL OUT OF VIRTUALLY NOTHING!

SHE'S GOING CIRCLES AGAIN.

At this point, the Queen is beating her head against the tree in frustration, not capable of thinking of anything...what does she need? What does she really, really need right here, right now? What spell could she create for that?

She pauses, the thought of a spell...beginning to form. She's worried about Mewni, isn't she? Maybe...just maybe, some sort of tear, like the dimensional scissors, but simply to...see. Yes, just to see how her kingdom is doing in her absence...her mother, her Mewni friends. She holds her wand, eyes closed in concentration as she tries..to think how that would work…

She learned in school about scientific method right. Well...try to put it to the test! Or...she would if her friend's faint screams weren't **distracting** her…

Wait...they sound like calling her. Watch...out? Watch out for what, Rafael did say these woods were completely tranquil- at that moment, her nerves stand on the edge, the very familiar sensation of danger webbing her way to her being, and she turns her wand on the direction, blasting a formless mass of magic. Just in time, as a black blur hits it and is sent back with a very distinctive, canine whine...wolves.

There are no wolves in Echo Creek! It's not an alpine environment! And there's no circus around wolves would escape...although, wolves don't necessarily need to come from Tund-

Focus. There is a tingle in the air, and she's not hearing any breathing or roaring...probably it went around, trying to find another angle to hit Moon when she least expects. She can still hear the group rushing, but they are fairly away...good. She won't drag her friends into this. She mutters a single levitato under her breath, a rock roughly the size of her first floating up, before conjuring the same whip she did with the van earlier, and spins it like like a flail, position ready to the moment the wolf tries another lunge…

Silence. There's...not even a sound of the pawsteps? Or breathing, she notices and mutters a silent thanks to River for teaching her the bare basics of hunt...sure, she wouldn't be expected to ever do it, but you do learn a thing or two when one of your two best friends is such a problem magnet...If there are no steps, means the creature is virtually weightless...at least, physically. There's no way any creature on Earth is virtually weightless, something is seriously-

Left. With a grunt, she quickly turns to the left, and slams her improved flail against the wolf, the rock breaking on the canine's head...it doesn't stop the wolf's momentum, simply transferring to her lower body, Moon's gasp of pain as the Wolf tackles her lower body, flipping her mid-air like the rock she was flailing earlier, before finally hitting the ground with a muted thump, and a biting wince...she quickly pushes herself, ignoring the pain and scraps, to turn to the predator facing her.

Her eyes widen in realization as she quickly deduces that yes, indeed, this isn't any Earth animal...by all means, it's a beast that shouldn't be here at **all.** A pristine, black velvet fur, waving at an unknown wind, blank, pristine yellow eyes, and teeth, and ethereal chains coming out of his metal collar makes the beast almost seem like a ghost. It's ethereal beauty would be almost fascinating, were not Moon horrified by the implications...

A familiar, a magical familiar...no...did they already find her? It's only been two days, and they already found HER? Did th-that mean…

Did...Mewni already fall? In a day?

Were they here...to finish her off? That's it? Mother, River, did they fail? Were they hurt, were they de-

No.

She will not end here. Moon immediately forces the thoughts on a recess on her mind before they can truly fester, this is neither the time nor the place, and as a Princess, she will act as such. She stomps trembling, getting up and glaring at the familiar who simply snarls, the thirst of blood clear on its eyes; it isn't the first time she has fought a monster, and it won't be the last. She lashes the ethereal whip coming from her wand, in a battle ready position...it will be tough, but she can dispel this familiar.

The faint breeze goes through the woods, finally justifying somewhat the movement of the wolves fur. Both of them were waiting for any movement, any window for the other to attack; predators analyzed the weakest points of their prey before striking, wolves doubly so...Moon's scrapes are wincing a little bit, would it try for the legs, this time purposely? Doesn't matter, she's ready…

The Wolf Pounces.

Moon lashes her whip.

Rafael, half-naked, bodily tackles the wolf, the entity looking as surprised and utterly flabbergasted as she is.

Moon, with the momentum, trips on a root and falls flat on her face. Y'know, this would be the perfect place for a laugh track, no no, maybe her entire life should have one of those unfunny, human laugh tracks following her every single day on Earth! She's really glad her friends are okay…

But...the timing. The timing…Can't she catch a break?

Honestly, a part of her was excited about that. Now she just feels robbed, even if momentarily; Rafael sure did a tough entrance, but he can hear his winces and ouches of pain as he tries his hardest to keep a hold on the struggling wolf, cuts drawing a little bit of blood, but he nonetheless keeps the hold. In her distraction, Moon feels some hands helping her up, and gazes at Sky's worried, but relieved face.

"Moon, thank C-God you're alright?" She expresses genuine relief, her voice for once not sarcastic or playful at all, Moon smiles, but shakes her head, turning to the Rafael worriedly as he hears the final snarl, the wolf breaking free and dashing towards their direction. Moon pulls Sky under, both of them falling on the floor as the wolf returns to the woods surrounding them, disappearing from sight. Moon doesn't waste time, turning to her friends...Rafael looks scratched, wincing at his cuts, but thankfully most of them were superficial...she just wants to know why he thought it was a good idea to face a beast shirtless, the clothing is at least a layer of pro-

Oh. She can see the stars in his eyes. Looking cool. Of course.

The sentiment is shared with her sole female comrade, both of their expressions simply digging a hole on Rafael, who finally notices the glares and has the dignity to even look self-conscious at that, before the sound of rustling bushes wake them up to reality. Moon pulls Sky to her back, and Rafael quickly stays on the front of her, Sky looking for the sides…

"Any plans, princess?" Sky directs to her, the group slowly turning around, trying to get a feel for every direction the predator may pop up again.

"Does getting you both away from here and letting me deal with it solo on the table?"

" _To turn away from a friend in need is an insult to the True Man's Path!_ " Rafael finishes, and clearly gulps as the two girls take that moment to glare at him.

"Put a shirt on." Both of them say, simultaneously so, Rafael mumbling under his breath "later."

Moon shakes her head, giggling, but quickly focusing. "I have a plan, but we don't have to chat. Just distract him, you can do that?" She turns to her friends, both of them giving her flashy thumbs up.

"Are you kidding me, I'm an avant garde artist! Distraction is my job!"

"I'll finally put those Rey moves to good use!"

"...oh my god, you actually watch Smackdown. You know all that is faked, right?"

" **Okay, first, wrestling is re** -My direction."

Truth be told, Moon is still confused over how quickly they synergized; she liked to think of herself as charismatic, and interesting of course, but the more she draws parallels between Earth and Mewni, the more things feel quite the same. Like said before, the group didn't need to be told instructions to deal with the beast, and like clockwork, they acted. Moon turned to the direction Rafael, already muttering an enchantment under her breath. Rafael widens his stance, extending his arms to his side, in a grappling motion, and as expected, grapples the wolf in a tight neck lock. Sky leaves Rafael's back, reaching her pocket for paint tubes, and squeezes them on the wolf's eyes; being an ethereal beast, it didn't howl in pain as Sky presumably expected, but nonetheless it still blinded it, and clamped her hands on the wolf's muzzle, to stop him from biting Rafael. They hold out as much as they could, as Moon finished the incantation…

Too bad...she actually didn't have any incantation in mind to dispel familiars. She's sure it has in the books but… but she doesn't have it. But that doesn't mean that she can't do anything...does it?

Magic is what she wants it to be. Corn damnit, Glossaryck, you-

 _In the darkest corners of magic, I sentence thee._

 _To return to immaterial, my presence as a oversee_

The feeling of magic building on her veins, the feeling of weightlessness and power itself, the warmth in her cheeks brings her a satisfied grin to her expression. This is right, this is where she belongs, right here, this moment.

This power…

 _Balu Bali, Balu Balou. I let you go. I let you go._

"Now, Rafael!" Sky exclamates, with Moon nodding.

Rafael does a spin and throws the wolf high in the air, the creature whelping before Moon blasts the spell...it looked more like the head of an arrow, as it sped through and hit the familiar right in the chest with a pained yelp. And just like a balloon, it pops from inside out, disappearing into nothingness.

The power thrill goes down, as well as the adrenaline. The group collapses in a small pile, giggling silently at each other. The sound of the birds, of the wildlife returns, the exhausted group not moving particularly, content to lay on the grass, enjoying each other presence. Moon herself can't help but giggle loudly, the exhaustion not affecting her spirits at all…

Yes, the worry of Mewni is still present, but...that was the first magical combat she had. The thrill of it is still high she wants to ride.

"What spell was that Moon" Rafael finally speaks, after they catch their breaths.

"I made it." She replies, nodding...felt weird. Not a bad weird, however, it felt...really good. _Really really good._

Sky keeps silent for a while, before chuckling louder. Both of them look at her, inquisitive expressions on their faces...she's giggling like a mad woman.

I mean, she is, but still

"No...just thinking. That makes it your part of the gang, you know?"

"She wasn't before?" Rafael turns to her, inquisitive

"Well...she created her own spell. Isn't that some sort of art, y'know?"

Moon spent quite some time digesting this word. Yes...it indeed was, in some sense, art. Her first spell...one of many. Now that the stress was over, Moon gets up, shaking off the grass from her dress. "I think we need to go, quickly. I really need to call mother. Then, later, we will investigate this place, find out whatever cast this creature." She gets up, straightening herself and heading towards the grimoire.

"Wait, we?" Sky asks, blinking...and Moon winces, stopping her step. Seriously, her princessly mask hurts more than helps around here! "O-oh...s-sorry. I-I mean, you don't have to come if you don't want, it's, after all, dangerous and...and…and you both would come anyway and are just messing with me, right."

Their grins did not escape them. Neither her desire to laugh out loud...maybe later. Right now, Moon needs to get Glossaryck, tell the news, check her kingdom and make plans.

Line Break -

Truth be told, Glossaryck was observing it from afar. One would think it might be cruel of him to let a familiar he sensed long, long time ago get near the princess, but as she'll soon come to learn, it was fairly quick.

Were she in any danger, she wouldn't even be here. He stretches his feet fingers, waiting the precious few more minutes he has before Moon comes around, screaming as she's clearly piercing together the fact he could have sensed or worries about Mewni.

However, one question escapes his mind…

Isn't she crystallized right now? If so…

Why are her familiars still around? It makes sense on it being Earth, but such primitive constructs lasting more than hours is already fairly unusual, but years? And most importantly…

How long will the rainbow haired girl keep hiding who she is?

Well...doesn't matter. When that happens it will definitely be interesting.

Moon made some interesting friends indeed...with excellent taste in desserts too, the thoughts of gluttony on sugary, chocolate and gooey treats distracting him from his inner machinations again…

 _ **\- O -**_

Moon moved like a blur, not stopping from the moment the van stopped by her home, climbing the stairs three steps at a time, slamming herself against the table disgracefully. Okay, calm time is over, she needs answers, she really really need answers, is everything alright, oh corn abo-

"MIRRORCALLMOM"

"Calling, Mom…"

She hops up and down, gritting her teeth as she waits for the slow...SLOW connection sounds…

Finally, it connects...but it's not with Comet, but River's face. Moon blinks a little, and River waves excitedly.

"Moon, oh Moon! Are you okay? Are you hurt, you're looking hurt did something happen?! IF IT WAS A MONSTER I WILL KICK LADY HEKAPOO'S-"

" **You will kick my what, boy?** " The voice echoed, all color disappears from his face…

"...Moon...he-" It's all he can say before a portal opens, and a hand grabs him by the face. The begging for mercy and pity are ignored, and the call disconnects.

Moon stands there, in complete shock for a moment...before silently disconnecting the mirror, simply standing there for some moments…

Glossaryck, who watches, gives a clear snort of amusement "Well, at least it's obviously clear Mewni isn't in any threat."

"...I'm going to bed."

* * *

 **Don't forget to rate and review!**


	7. 50cc Shopping Kart Race

**Apologies for the delay. Personal Life, Sickness and video games got in the way. Considering the delay, I figured I should compensate with another Moon update. Don't worry, Jackie update will be coming soonish. Now to the reviews!**

 **allen - Rafael, and River are quite similar, but then again, teenagers are teenagers, right? Johansson's weren't known for the smarts, and there are reasons for Marco to feel embarrassed of his parents!**

 **Now, let's go for the chapter. I apologize the length of it, the next one will definitely be bigger.**

* * *

Moon wasn't very popular in School. Little did they know that was actually a relief for her.

Now, don't mistake her, the "princess" thing started getting really annoying, with some people asking her where her "royal dress" is, or saying the wrong elements in chemistry class, something they undoubtedly saw in some of Earth's fantasy books, thinking it will really get to her. Jokes on them, Pixel Dust indeed has similar properties to Magnesium, so they would be right to say that.

Honestly, the roughest comes from the cheerleader team, who just plainly laugh at her for anything, or make fun of her everytime they cross by, but so far it has been nothing direct, or that required her to defend herself. Besides, some people are genuinely kind, acknowledging her or helping in tough exercises, so all she feels is...normal. Part of something. Not the focus of attention.

She could get used to that. She traded her dress for a simple, blue polo shirt, albeit the fabric of it itches her skin a bit, and a purple skirt and shoes. Her crown was left in her tower, replaced with a simple yellow tiara with a small butterfly on the top. She feels...common. Like one of them...so un-princess-like? It's a relief and a burden. Nonetheless, besides the jest she's simply one of them, learning of Earth's knowledge, and applying to her own...when she returns, she will have an interesting chat with her own scholars, because their concept of gravity is, surely, much more logical than "invisible hooks."

Although to credit her own scholars, each dimension had its own rules: Maybe Mewni truly worked by "invisible hooks", and some laws of physics of Earth didn't make sense to her, at least as far as her experience went, one of them being that energy is never created, only modified; of course it can be created! That's the basis of Magic! Unless, of course, it draws...from the source. Hmm, maybe she really should ask Glossaryck someday.

After another day of school, Moon would generally return to her home, maybe grab a bite at the grocery, and head on her merry way but today will be different! Today she's doing the hanging out! And not the "let the enemies of the state hang" of course. As the final bell rings, she packs up her bags after another enriching class of history, and heads out, humming a song she heard in those electric music boxes earlier, with a small grin on her expression and a faint hop

"I thought that I heard you laughing, I thought that I heard you sing…~" Earth music was so chaotic but...so catchy! So, so catchy! Legitimately, it's an issue, she has been singing this song for like 3 days now!

Her great mood, however, wouldn't last long as fate would have it. In her distraction, she runs into someone, breaking her daze. As she prepares to apologize, a familiar voice kills any amount of regret or apologetic feelings, replacing with a silent disgust. A tall girl, blonde with chestnut eyes and copious amounts of pink makeup and red lipstick, of someone trying way too hard to look mature, turns to her furious "Watch where you're going- Oooh, hello~" Her vicious expression morphs into one of a snake "I'm sorry, _your majesty_ , I didn't mind you while you were _dreaming_ about your kingdom~" She smirks, Moon simply raising an eyebrow in disdain, and looking past her shoulder, seeing the rest of the cheerleaders hot on the trail of the alpha. Oh, joy.

"Indeed, it was my clumsiness that led you to such discomfort. I apologize on the behalf of my imaginary, non-existent Kingdom. Have a good day." She starts to move, before she feels a hand on her shoulder, nails digging on the muscle. Deep breaths, deep breaths…

"Oh, juuuuust a second, where are you going in such a hurry, your holiness?" She starts again, voice as sweet and kind as a scorpion.

"Hmm...Holiness is for the pope, Kimber-" One of the cheerleaders on the back tries to speak.

"Shut up, Sabrina." The viper cuts her off shortly, a meep being the only reply before she turns to the actual prey "As I said, where are you going in such a hurry? Going to play pretend at home, I take it?" Moon can't help but internally wince, not out of shame, but just plain embarrassment. Is that really the worst she can bring? She'd heard worse insults disguised as backhanded compliments from the balls she was forced to attend, and she couldn't even start to prick her while being openly aggressive?

The princess takes a deep breath, truly weighing if it's even worth to trade any meaningful conversation with the snake. She glances at the cheerleader's grin, and the answer is plastered quite clearly. "Yes, I am. I guess it's a thing we have in common, no? I play pretend of the princess, and you play pretend queen. No, my apologies, not pretend, right? You truly believe you are one?" Her head tilts, looking at Kimberly's group, who are looking at her with various feelings of anxiety. "It looks to me your play of pretending involves way more people than mine, it's actually quite harmful! You should seek a professional, I can certainly recommend some."

"Now listen here you delusional bit-"

"Kimberly, what are you doing?" The cheerleader glares at the actual princess, almost growling like a dog before turning, pushing her against the lockers and running off with her group, Moon wincing a bit from the impact but in the end no worse to wear; she rubs her chest before turning to the teacher with an appreciative nod.

"Thank you, Ms. Skullnick." She turns to the young teacher with a smile and bats her clothes to shake off the dirt

"I hope she didn't rough you too much, dear." She begins, with a small smile, Moon simply nodding and mouthing her thanks before going on her way...the old Math Teacher took an absence after...drinking problems, why that would be a problem is beyond her, everyone in Mewni drinks and Ms. Skullnick recently took over for them.

She doesn't know her that well yet, but who knows in the future? Anyway, she's late and should get going. So, after making sure she's out of the school before going in spontaneous bouts of sing and dancing, she leaves Echo Creek Academy, hopping this time towards a department store nearby...she always found odd how Rafael didn't want to meet at a more reasonable place, but hey, she isn't one to pry in someone's privacy! Nonetheless, she should hurry her step a bit, the encounter with Kimberley left her seconds late!

Reaching the department store's parking lot, she is a little disappointed to find...well, no one. Maybe Rafael is being held up...again; with a sigh, and a shake of her head, she decides to enter the store, picking up some coins from her pocket...she can buy some candy and kill some time, while waiting for him, not an issue!

Buying one of those magazines, and a small chocolate bar, Moon sits by the chair and wastes some time.

 _ **\- O -**_

Moon likes to be punctual, but that is a product of her upbringing and she's aware of that...even so, fifteen minutes? Come on! Rafael will be sure to get an earful when he comes, that's for sure!

Speaking of Rafael, he's coming...and he looks like a mess, his shirt torn up, scratches and a purple eye. Moon sighs, and he gives an embarrassed smile and a wave.

"Hello Moon...eh...how...are you doing, haha?"

"Riv-Rafael. What happened?" She jumps straight to matter of fact, glaring at him and taking a bite out of her chocolate bar...he tries to awkwardly laugh, but her glare just intensifies, his back straightening up.

"Got into another fight, didn't you." She gets up, pocketing the rest of the chocolate and rolling the magazine up.

"A fight for the honor of- ouch." He tries going on his bravado again, only for Moon to start whacking him with the newspaper...what starts as annoyance turns into mercy pleas because, to his surprise, Moon does have a nasty swing. She swats him for almost a whole minute, before finally getting tired of it and rolling her eyes...he's already on the floor, trembling.

"You're just being dramatic. Again." In the end, she can't help but laugh however...he's a goofball, but so enthusiastic about being that!

Rafael sits down, laying against the wall with a small laugh, and Moon rolls her eyes, sitting alongside him, and offering the rest of her chocolate, which he graciously accepts, as well as unrolling the magazine for both of them to read...admittedly, she has always had had an easier time striking friendship with boys rather than other girls, but it's still fairly amusing how, out of all of the people Moon met, her first friend is someone like him. Maybe she really does attract a certain kind of people, as others were prone to say about her.

Not that she minded, however. After the excitement of yesterday, the questions still swarming in her mind, she definitely appreciated this small time to simply sit down, breathe, and relax, without any goal or objective to reach...just hanging, with one of her two friends in this dimension. Ah, so relaxing to not think about-

"So, Moon...what was that thing last week?"

Gods damn it, Rafael.

"Why...are you asking only now?" She turns to her friend, idly noticing how his

wounds aren't bothering him anymore, or the whole serious expression at her.

"I wanted to respect your space, of course, I do imagine a lady would be completely traumatized by such _vicious_ events" Moon can't help but sigh at his drama, again.

"But, the fact that...that was a...thing I've never seen in my life. I'm glad we walked away unwounded but the fact is...we were still attacked. And I want to be sure what it was, or if it's going to happen again." He finishes, actual seriousness in his voice for once.

Moon blinking..before frowning, looking on the side"Yes, I suppose. I must apologize for...dragging you and Sky into this." She begins, wincing and breathing through her teeth, trying to continue

"If-" She can barely continue before Rafael raises a single finger and tenderly places on her lips, shaking his head.

"Not complaining about that. Just asking what I should know, Moon." He continues,

smiling and shrugging "Truth be told, I think you already figured I'm not the kind of person to let such injustices pass by if I can do anything to help!" He flexes his arm...and then finally winces at the bruises, Moon again rolling her eyes but laughing…

"I suppose so. I did...say I was from another dimension, right?" She turns to Rafael inquisitively, who nods in confirmation.

"Well...that isn't the whole story." With a sigh, she breaks the final barrier of trust and vents to Rafael...Mewni, her situation, the monsters, the threat of invasion, and her...well, hiding. It feels like a weight lifted from her shoulders, telling someone else about her situation, but at the same time she can't help but wince as another of her mental rules about princesshood is lost...it's ok to vent, but is it really okay to divulge such private, concrete information about her?

The fact familiars were around meant that maybe, perhaps, monsters were around...and if they were, this Rafael could be a mudman? It's so remote, but it gnaws at her head, and for a moment she feels regretful of even sharing such important facts.

Rafael however, looks really understanding...if a bit overwhelmed. Scratch that, mildly overwhelmed, and somewhat...amused? He gives a nervous laugh and puts an arm on her shoulder, patting it with a toothy grin

"That...is really a lot to face, you know? Pressure too.."

"Yeah…"

They keep to another silence, but this one is fairly less comfortable than the one earlier...born not out of comfort for each other's presence, but worry. She gives a tiny cough, and rubs the back of her head…

"I don't think you're being hunted, however." He finally speaks after a while, getting up and stretching, again wincing as he's reminded he's roughed up a bit. Moon blinks a bit, and Rafael turns at him...again, doing an unnecessary pose, hand on his hip and his finger raised, looking back

"You did confirm your family was okay, right? The only way they would know where you are would be if something happened to Mewni. Sure, you could say some of these...mudmen, right?" She nods in confirmation "Yes, one of these mudmen heard about it, but they aren't accomplished spellcasters, also they ought to have been on Earth before." Moon rubs her chin, the argument indeed sounding possible "Even more," He continues, her attention returning to him "If indeed, you were sent to be eliminated, I don't think they would stop at one, you know? And you slept, and you left the trail all the way to your home if you were followed"

He's...right. It really makes no sense. But then...the other option.

"Then that familiar was already materialized on Earth...but why?" She scratches her head, confused "I thought Earth was a magicless dimension…?"

"It's indeed... _a mystery._ " He finishes with a flourish, gazing on the horizon, Moon looking unamused, but allowing it...he's silly, but he raised some great points: This wasn't an assassin...they trod magical grounds. On an assumedly, magicless realm…

Then...perhaps Magic does exist on Earth. Or...something was here before. She looks contemplative, making mental notes that this is something that warrants investigation. Perhaps the arts were lost with time? People on Earth seems more reliant on alchemy and forgery rather than magic, perhaps it was simply thought as non-practical to a point that even Mother's investigators would think the realm as anything but lifeless?

No. Lady Hekapoo wouldn't be fooled by superficial guises, would she? Perhaps a fleeting suspicion, then? Theories, propositions, and situations swam on her head, scenarios playing out that hypothesize the reason that familiar was even there. She wouldn't go anywhere concrete without true research, however…

"I suppose this will warrant a true investigation in the future" She finishes, clicking her tongue before looking at the street, getting up alongside Rafael.

"So, what will this "hanging out" entail?"

"Oh, we'll just slide down a hill on a shopping cart."

"What."

 **\- O -**

A misconception a lot of people tend to have is that Moon doesn't get involved in ridiculous antics. She disapproves of them, but most of the time she'll eventually cede and go along, if anything, to make sure everyone is safe and if possible, stimulate them to instead do something much, much safer.

A lot of times, this didn't really work. She's savvy enough to realize that boys like Rafael or River have their common sense complete and utterly replaced by the capacity to survive such crazy antics in the first place, and that talking them down of that idea is utterly pointless, unless with the help of someone else; River truly appreciated Dirt because of this, a level head that helps her keep River's antics on a leash, and both of them can be relieved.

These days, obviously, that's impossible, even before she left to Earth. Hard to go out of the palace with a war on the horizon and the probability of a bolt arrow piercing her cranium or her heart being quite high if she steps outside without a veritable legion of bodyguards, but she's digressing again.

The issue, right now, is that Rafael is not River. Similar but not the same. River does to impress, but Rafael does to impress himself, regardless of the others thoughts; not only that, but her other friend is as insane, if not more, than Rafael himself...that leaves her holding the leash of two great people, but that has less than a stellar sense of self-preservation.

The hill isn't the one that Moon made her home, this one fairly more populated, the elaborated houses with their gates, fountains, and Cadillacs, she thinks that's the name. Rafael is pushing a shopping cart they took from the store they were hanging out, and to her shock the employee allowed, looking simply...like that's just another day. She followed him, of course, but she can't help but worry. On the topside, she is starting to see other people too, her eyes narrowed as she tries to find any familiar face in the crowd.

Surprisingly, there are few students from Echo Creek. She can see Dave and Clarice, Dave is inside the shopping cart, looking fairly terrified, gripping the metallic sides, while Clarice, the big fat red-haired boy looking...well, cheery as always. He even waves at her, Moon timidly waving back.

There's another boy...and boy is he large. Moon isn't shy about seeing overweight people, some nobility do find that...charming, and think that reckless eating and no exercise shows their wealth...money shows wealth, not the amount of fat one carries, but she's taught better than to show her dry wit...which is becoming even sharper and harder to hold the more she stays on Earth.

She doesn't mind, of course. In fact, she even welcomes it! Her repertoire of words that she can tell Mildrew to sod off has been increased at least thricefold in these past weeks! No that, like, he will be affected, the willful ignorance of the count makes him denser than what she read the Earth's core is.

Oh no, the core's actually molten, isn't it? She should revise some topics, it wouldn't do well to get a bad judgment on this future "tests" that she has heard off…

Oh look, her parallel thought distracted a her for a moment from the ensuing stupidity she's witnessing and most likely is going to take part. Rafael looks absolutely joyful, talking, cheering and waving at most people around, some of which Moon actually has no idea from her time at the school, mostly male though. She attracts some odd stares, but at this point, she's used to it; keeping a polite smile and sticking close to Rafael, she pulls his sleeve to draw his attention.

"If I can't convince you that this is a bad idea in any shape or form…" She continues, the rolling of his eyes already telling this is a moot point for him "At least can you tell me the why?" She continues, this time does bring a bit of pause to his step. He opens his mouth, but she can already guess what he'll say. She puts a finger to his lips, looking at him, this time seriously:

"You can say it's the man's path, but it really isn't like you to actually do dangerous stuff, you know?" She continues, her expression slowly going from berating to concerned...he's not really looking at her in the eyes, and she didn't need lessons of psychology to know what that meant.

Well, she did have them nonetheless, but it simply made it easier to tell when Rafael is potentially hiding something.

He holds his hand for a moment, Moon jumping a bit. He looks on the side for a moment, before gazing at her in the eyes, Moon's heart...actually skipping a bit. A faint breeze washes on the hill, leaves moving, and the soft strumming of a guitar echoes in the background, and for a moment Moon swears she can hear the sound of the waves in the background hitting against the shore.

" _Senora_ Moon, I know that for quite a while, my desires and impulses have been ranging from whimsical, to absurd...but, I swear on my pride as a _hombre_ , as a member of the **male race**!" He grips her hands tighter, a small ouch coming from the heiress. "For my path to enlightenment, this is a decisive moment the one that will define if **ALL** or my earlier efforts have been for naught or not!

He falls on his knees, looking down on the ground, and clearly sobbing...Moon silently thanks the heavens that she isn't suffering second-hand embarrassment alone, as others seem to be looking at any place but where she is, looking quite as embarrassed as her...worst of all, however? The reason she feels like weeping and feeling pity for herself?

Rafael just condemned himself. In this dramatic proclaiming, so, so like him, he all but confirmed for anyone that knows him well that...whatever is that he's searching here, whatever objective in this competition…

It will be something stupid. Something so incredibly stupid that Moon dreads, and feels a genuine fear of her reaction, of how her hope and expectations of Rafael, and in trade her male friends, can go, somehow, even _lower._

She wept. She genuinely, honest to god wept, also falling to her knees, Rafael hugging him and muttering something about being thankful for her help, and how glad he is that Moon shares the passion, but she isn't paying attention to that, no...She's paying attention to her dwindling sanity, and her completely incapacity to make friends with normal people; where's Mud when he's needed? Why is everything so insane? Why can't she catch a break?

Somewhere, across the multiverse, a noble-like squire sneezed. This distracted him from dodging a tentacle from a multi-limbed monster that River though was good for training, ignoring the fact that not only was it a feral monster, but a slime which made all his tries to cut the tentacles null and void. A feeling of mutual despair, embarrassment, and sympathy felt, and he internally winces. Looks like Moon, indeed, can't escape her curse.

 **\- O - -**

Shopping Cart Racing. A mutual hobby amongst many of the youth of the city, unsurprisingly a lot of them being teenagers with something to prove, either for their peers, for social status, or insecurities; normal teenagehood really, if she analyzes it with a clinical thought, hypocrite as it is since she's really on the same boat, and can't truly detach herself of the situation; if she could, really, the comments she get from other princesses wouldn't hurt as they do.

Nonetheless, amongst the males it's a big hobby, which does draw her stares...well, they've all witnessed Rafael's _show_ , so the confusion of her presence isn't a point there...digressing.

The rules are fairly simple, from what she picked up from her friend: One person stays inside the cart, the other hangs on the back, being the counterweight of the other: The heaviest person in front, theoretically, gives a larger boost, while the heavier on the back gives better control over the curves; for safety, Moon picked to be inside the cart. Both of them will use their weight to turn in the curves during the race and must be the first at the bottom, where there will be people to ascertain their victory: Similar to the game of flags that the Johansen play, it seems, with the direction inverted.

The first person to win this month's "race" will be given a prize, which she notices, left most of the competitors on the edge, Rafael included. Her eyes narrow, as there seems to be some sort of consensus, and knowledge of the prize that most of them are aware, but her. Her mind goes quickly in analysis, hypothesizing what could Rafael want from this: He's an artist, right? So painting supplies? No, no...he doesn't seem to have any financial trouble to acquire such things. Maybe some sort of book, or scroll about art tricks? No...she highly doubts everyone here is an artist, so any art related reward is a null…

Perhaps monetary prize? This does sound appealing to most people, indeed...hm…

She can turn to Rafael and just ask him, if she's honest. In fact, this should to this right around now! As she turns to her friend and opens her mouth to finally ask the reason to participate in such a thing, she hears a air horn, breaking off her concentration, a girl strolling on the front...oh no.

"Oh no."

Kimberly and Moon trade stares, the world around them coming from nothingness. A scowl is built on each of their expressions for a single picosecond, both females bearing each other their fangs and plain dislike for each other, quick enough for the males to not pick it up, but long enough for each of them to silently threaten the other, as well as to set the ancient, dimension-crossing of mutual agreement between hateful rivals: Don't acknowledge me, and I won't acknowledge you.

Rafael does blink and looks at the side to her, Moon simply shaking off her head. Not worth the effort, and it's in public; unbecoming of her to feel the need to pick up a bone with the "queen of school". Kimberly strolls on all of her haughty glory, wearing a pink skirt with a white blouse, her hair rolled up in pigtails, her troupe following her closer than ever her own shadow.

"Listen up, sweaty peeps!" She looks at Moon again, the girl rolling her eyes at her direction, earning a scowl. "Welcome to the 57th Wang Family Shopping Cart Race!" She proclaims, Moon raising her eyebrows at the revelation, looking up from the cart to Rafael, who just looks at her and shrugs. "You all know the deal! Roll down the mountain, no rules, if anyone gets hurt and snitches, you'll be blacklisted from my parties!" She glances at Moon again, eyes narrowed "Besides that, no rules! Go crazy, you dirty animals!" She picks up her airhorn, holding it high in the air, glaring at the group with a determined glare.

Moon hands tighten on the sides, focusing on the front...the thought of her getting so into something she was scoffing hours before is thankfully set aside for now. Right now? She picked up the subliminal threat from Kimberly…

She'll win, if only to rub it on her face.

The air horn is pressed, and chaos ensued.

* * *

 **Don't forget to rate and review!**


	8. The Part where Things go Wrong

**No, I did not forget the story!**

 **Yes I know I took a while!**

 **Sorry. This chapter we'll finally get to see River so you'll forgive me right?**

 **RIGHT?!**

 **Star vs et etc etc.**

* * *

Moon was bored. Well...not exactly bored, idleness of mind is idleness of spirit after all, and Moon knew better than waste away her time in activities she felt wouldn't mold her in a monarch worth of ruling Mewni someday.

Fencing, theoretical spellcasting, singing, speech lessons filled her schedule, with healthy intervals to spend time with her mother, and pursue her own hobbies; she shudders to remember her schedule before mother kicked away the caretaker from Saint Olga, but one thing did however always stuck to her mind, and even if mother saw it as a negative, she would passionately disagree; she is a princess, and must act as such.

The issue of her boredom is simply that the topics of the other princess are simply so dull. Dresses? She doesn't really care much, the royal weaver does dresses to her own freedom, her role is to simply wear something that shows her regal status, she shouldn't need to fill her head with so many details, there are simply better things to occupy yourself!

How about a chat of royal strategies for sieges? Or the nature of corn development in different types of soil of Mewni! Those are, in fact, topics she is quite passionate!

Of course, every time she even tries to bring a topic that doesn't sound like a colossal waste of time, all she gets is stares and whispers…by the third ball, she learned to keep her mouth shut and be as short as needed. Sometimes princes came to speak about how she's beautiful and asking for a dance, in which she indulges them as necessary; she's too young to need to find a King to marry, at this point it's unnecessary to truly delve in courtship rituals.

She's...eight, right? Nine! Yes, nine, she assures herself by counting her fingers, sitting on the chair, facing the princes of different regions...most of them seem to be either bored as her, chatting between themselves and a singular one seems to be right now sweating buckets, his suit looking quite...tight on him. That is the newcomer kingdom heir, right? The one from the band of the warriors...isn't it? Curious, she thought mercenaries wouldn't bother with such events as a nobility ball...

The silver bell rings, indicating the beginning of the ball. Prince Spike from the Jaggy Mountains rise, the decorative pebbles tied by a string dotting his suit clacking against one another, heading towards Princess Spiderbite, who graciously takes his hand. She glances at Moon from above her shoulder, as if bragging...and frowning at her blank expression, which doesn't last long as they start to dance to the rhythm of the song, Moon barely paying attention as she distracts herself with her own thoughts.

The Johansen recently reunited under a flag, being a band of traveling warriors in the past...much like her teacher said, many mercenary bands have made quite a living by fighting the monster threats on neighboring kingdoms, perhaps these tribes banded together to make a kingdom? Hmm...then these "Johansen" must have had quite the competition to rise as a royal family…

Their dance is done, but Moon's mind is already elaborating hypotheses. She barely acknowledges as Prince Ponyhead rises to dance again with Princess Spiderbite. For him, most likely out of formality and diplomacy than anything, biologies are quite..incompatible. Albeit...how do they even reproduce?

She chalks that hypothesis down the list, as her stare returns to the blonde boy that is squirming on the seat, and trying to adjust his collar...he isn't carrying any weapons, or leather coats, or any armor at all...maybe that is the source of his nervousness? The lack of weapons at the side for the self-defense? Hmmm...she's curious now, and that's going to bother her!

In her introspection, she doesn't notice the line thin down until finally, the blonde prince turn comes. He gets up nervously, glancing at the line of princesses...he'll probably pick Spiderbite too, or Princess Arms? Nonetheless, it's not like…

...he went straight to me? Huh. There is a small take of breath from the others...probably the first time in a while that someone went directly to me. Moon looks at his stretched hand, smiling slightly and taking his head, getting up. She wonders what manners of ball movements the Vikings are tau-

"P-please help me...I d-d-don't know how to dance."

Oh. Well, that makes even more sense. Hmmm...Mother taught her about this eventuality, didn't she? To...guide?

"Alright, I'll guide then." She says curtly, the boy for some reason somehow managing to be even more embarrassed. Taking his hand to hers, one stretched to the right ad the other near the chest, she starts waltzing alongside him...it's clear he's clumsy, his movements having some resistance which she quickly picks up.

"Loosen up, take it as a...lunge, but not too strong." She says, to his nod...he throws himself stronger, requiring less force from her, which she nods approvingly. As they keep the dance, she recognizes the tempo, humming a bit...the spin part should be close, shouldn't it? It's not overly complex, but he might screw this up…

It wouldn't do for an heir to embarrass their family in such an important event, this is definitely something she can sympathize completely...that is why he was embarrassed. She is almost smug of her mind solving another mystery if it wasn't currently trying to process a way to help him understand the movement.

"In...5 seconds, I think, you should get some space from me, releasing the hand near the chest, but keep the other arm outstretched. I'll do a spin, holding to your hand...you'll imitate it later, alright?"

"...wait can ya repeat it?"

She rolls her eyes and hopes he's a practical learner. In five seconds, she gets distance from him, doing a simple twirl while holding to his hand. She finishes, returning to the position of earlier, whispering:

"Your turn."

He nods shakily, getting the space and turning...a bit too strong. When she says a bit, Moon means strong enough to spin her together with him, getting her off balance and spinning dazed across the dancefloor

"Oh no!"

Moon desperately tries to get her bearings but it's all spinning and a blurry mess, the momentum making her spin around as if she was a boomerang! This isn't good, she's embarrassing mother! She must regain control, immediately! She tries to step stronger on the floor, to at least lock a leg and regain her footing! As she tries such, however, the shoe's heel breaks into shards…

Moon swears after this embarrassment, she'll forsake glass shoes...pretty, extremely so, but in retrospect, highly unpractical. Her eyes closed as she prepares to collide with the hard marble floor...and thus, is surprised as she is held instead by something...soft? Her eyes open, azure eyes meeting the blue of the prince, as he holds her in his arms. His face is beet red, and Moon can't deny she's feeling a bit airheaded currently...albeit, to be fair, that is probably because she's being spun quite heavily a while ago.

Silence reigns on the ballroom...before thunderous applause coming from the spectators, even her fellow princesses! Spiderbite is weeping, while the Waterbasin Princess are looking in awe...an almost smug sense of superiority washes over Moon.

Yes. This is truly the place, and the situation she belongs.

 _ **\- OO -**_

This is not the place or the situation she belongs, please whatever deities that watch over Earth, save her!

It's the second turn, and Moon remembers vividly the screams and the hellish screech of metal as a couple of contestants couldn't spin in time, making a complete chaotic crashing chaos, Moon and Rafael barely making it out by virtually throwing themselves to the other side with all her vigor, and by accidentally pushing a competitor nearby when Rafael's hip collided with the side of the other car, making it capsize quite spectacularly.

She normally would feel bad about causing harm to innocents, but both of them know that this is not a race anymore...this is a battle for survival. There is currently 24 other shopping karts behind them and 4 on the front, as Moon grips the sides of the shopping cart with eyes wide open. She turns to Rafael, which is trying to keep a strong face for her, bless him, but he can't really hide the trembling knees.

"This is insane!" She screeches, shoving herself on the right, just in time to avoid two struggling karts losing balance and collapsing with a scream...they dare not look back to the mayhem of crushed metal and...was that a snap?!

"Well, it shouldn't be a lot to you, you know- RIGHT!" They shove themselves on the right, again barely making the turn. "That's rich coming from you! From what you talked, doesn't Mewni have a forest called "Forest of Certain Death"?! I would imagine this would be dull to you?!"

"Only because it exists doesn't mean I go there every day! I'm a princess, not a hunter!"

"Says the PRINCESS WITH THE MAGIC WAND!"

"HAVING A MAGIC WAND DOES NOT INVALIDATE IN ANY SENSE OR FORM HOW UTTERLY DANGEROUS THIS WHOLE RACE IS!" She screeches, her angry expression slowly softening, however, and being replaced by curiosity as she hears an approaching sound…

She heard it before, didn't she? Some sort of aggressive beat on it, like a...metallic drum, and some other sounds, accompanied by some sort of fast-talking-

"Oh...noooo…" Rafael looks to the left, a mix of drained and terrified, and Moon's gaze follows his.

Two persons, none of which Moon recognizes very well are right now caught up to them, side by side; The one inside the kart is a boy that looks completely and utterly miserable, and she can't help but relate, although his attire of clothing is quite odd: A pitch black t-shirt with the picture of a skeleton playing a guitar and the number 666 on fire, long hair as well as blue jeans...but on the manning of the shopping cart is...well

"Aren't his clothes too big? They're flapping like...excess flesh…"

"Thank you for the mental image, Moon."

A ginger boy, wearing what seems to be baggy, loose clothing. A grey sweatshirt with "PIPPING" on the front, as well as pants are unreasonably low, giving sight to the top of the underwear. He's wearing a cap with RAPPER written in gold, and...a really heavy looking collar around the neck. He's using glasses that, again, are far too big for the scrawny figure of his, making it seem almost like half his face. He grins, and starts…

"Why is he making sounds with his mouth. Like...beats?"

"Beatboxing."

"Ah."

He starts beatboxing, and points to the black wearing teen with complete enthusiasm...he clearly sighs, and starts doing the weird beat. The boy then turns to them and…

Rafael suddenly tilts the kart to their side, grinning toothily. Moon jumps as the collision, getting her bearings and glaring at Rafael, who just shrugs

"What's the bright idea, Rafael!" She rubs her head, wincing as she feels a bit of a sting when the collision. She doesn't have much time to complain, however, as another impact rattles her little haven, this time her head hitting the OTHER side. The duo doesn't seem to have wasted time if their glares are any indication…

Well...more like one impassive expression, looking as frustrated as her, and one kinda-stare, hard to say with those brick blocks that person calls sunglasses.

"Look, you've made them MAD!" She turns to him, and...blanches at his expression. His expression is grim, almost murderous, his teeth gritting and his eyes burning. Seriously, they could be burning, she would be almost scared if that glare was directed at her.

"Moon, the moment that person appeared, I understood the threat. The conflict, the challenge to my DIGNITY and Manhood!" He roars, crashing on the cart again, this time with her being ready, and gripping the cart with all her strength.

"In which moment, in which...PERIOD of time, in which even MARK of history, did someone wearing clothes that are too big for them and looking ridiculous offends your manhood in ANY WAY?!" She ignores the insulted "hey" in the background. "By all means, you should feel gratified! You don't look ridiculous as him!"

" **That's exactly why."**

"Wh-"

Rafael takes the moment to take one hand off of the kart, gripping his shirt. Of course, he ignores the fact this would pull the cart slightly to that direction, as the princess aligns her weight, sighing as Rafael continues his ramble.

"For a man to be utterly shameless...to wear such clothes in such an ugly, unfashionable WAY…" Since when do you care about fashion aga- oh right, artist "It's unacceptable! I won't TAKE such INSULT **AGAINST THE URBAN AESTHETICS AS LONG AS I LIVE AND DRAW BREATH!** "

"...is the prize from this race that impo-"

" **YES IT IS QUITE IMPORTANT, NOW USE YOUR WAND OR LET ME HANDLE THIS, DO OR DIE MOON, THE PRIMAL CHOICE!** "

With a loud, almost primal roar he all but shoves his whole body in the direction of the other cart...which in retrospect were trying to get some leeway, both of them looking actually terrified at Rafael's screaming. She feels...almost bad.

Almost. Rafael's intensity is something she wants quite a lee-way, thank you.

...that intensity...she can't help but grin. All this loose atmosphere, the absurdity of the situation...even in stress, she found another true friend, didn't she? Rafael is an idiot, but she cherishes him, just like another idiot back home…

And yet again, her mind wanders to a happier place, her body on automatic, as she very much deliberately tries to not acknowledge Rafael screaming like a mad person.

 **\- OO -**

Time passes fairly quick after the ball, their dance being one of the last. Moon can't help but be quite prideful, and dare says, even smug as she returned to her seat, returning a grin to Spiderbite, who just glares at her while scratching her spider bite. To be fair, she can say she dislikes her the least, mostly because she doesn't look outright alien, and they both share their dislike for topics of cosmetics, since Moon is quite practical...and most cosmetics irritates the princess skin; but, as mother said, to impose respect and rise above all is a Queen Job, and by the thunderous applause, she must have certainly risen above every other dance!

She can almost ignore the fact her shoe is shattered, and walking back without tripping and hitting her face was by far more dauntless than the rest of the dance, really.

In the end, however, Moon didn't win. Regardless of the thunderous applause, it was Prince Ponyhead with Princess...Ponyhead. Huh, she never really even noticed her being around at all; then again, she was always great at blending in. They won on the terms of being "a sublime, underrated dance that contrasted with the explosive dances earlier in a subtle, ethereal manner…"

While her mother was just silently amused as she is to be most of the time, many of the invitees felt she was "academically snubbed" due to her dances being a rarity and it raised quite a bit of mucus right now...it's almost silly, but she supposed, in the end, it wasn't as dull and a waste of her time as the other ones.

She's by the balcony, looking towards the Kingdom with fond eyes, her chin supported by her arms lying on the balcony...there is some chat and mumble in the background, as well as a soft song but that is mostly the adults turn by now, and for all that she speaks about desiring to be a proud queen, adult parties were...well...boring.

She almost moves to leave, maybe to find Mother and stick by her the remaining of the party, when another person by her right comes, laying against the railing too. She turns, curious, and her eyes widen as it's the same boy she danced with...he looks as awkward and nervous as he was on the ball.

"Oh, hello again."

"Oh, hmm...h-hi! I...hmm...never asked your name!"

Moon raises an eyebrow, which has a clear effect on him as he looks on the side, pulling his collar...didn't they announce their names when he went directly to her? They...probably did, didn't they? She admittedly was way too distracted to notice that.

"My name is Moon Butterfly" She does a small bow, smiling, and holding her hands upfront…"May I have yours, good sir?"

"River! Eh…" He adjusts his tie, clearly fumbling...Moon rolls her eyes, but gives a small smile, getting closer and adjusting it herself. He watches closely, his face growing redder...Moon chalks it up as embarrassment, why so she can't really figure, there's no shame in requiring a helping hand or other!

"River...Johanssen. Rolls right off the tongue, ladies love it!" He even does the finger guns, Moon looking at it...and imitating. "Is that a form of greeting for your family?"

"No no, it's...nevermind…" He looks down, doing a kicking motion, and turning to the railing. Moon joins side by side, him sighing.

"You know...I didn't really want to come here."

"Me neither."

He turns to her in surprise, and Moon looks at him with her head tilted.

"Why is that surprising?"

"Well, I thought that...you know...princesses...liked this kind of thing."

"I guess most do."

A silence falls on both of them, as Moon taps the railing with her fingers in a percussive matter.

"Why do you dislike it, then?" He turns to her, Moon blinking, before pursuing her lips in thought

"I guess because it's dishonest, superfluous even."

At his blank expression, she smiles and continues. "It just feels...artificial for me, really. Like…"

She is clearly struggling to pick words, eventually being startled by River's laugh "What's so funny!" She raises her voice, covering her mouth soon after, but glowering as River's laugh doesn't stop.

"S-sorry...I-I mean no insult, it's just...you don't feel you belong, right?"

Moon blinks, and gives a light smile "...no, I don't." She glances at the ball, where she sees the shadows of the guests and dancers by the light "I just feel I don't fit with the rest of the princesses…"

River climbs to sit at the railing, patting at the side. Moon nods, and follows, looking at the party "Why so…?"

"I...don't know. I feel I just don't belong. Most of the others are talking some matter of small frivolities...like whose dress is prettier, details on it, and...gossiping. I just can't really feel part of it. Not like...many of them talk to me too." She folds her arms, sighing.

"...what you like to chat about then?"

"Strategies to combat monsters, I suppose?" She pauses…"Spellcasting...Maybe, I don't know…"

"See, you don't even know what you're supposed to talk. I don't think it's them...at least not as much." Moon looks at River, confused.

"I think you should just...maybe, try to get on with THEIR talk, instead of forcing your own topics. I-I guess, of course!"

"But...b-but...it's not topics that will make me a better Queen!"

He rubs his chin, then shrugs. "Wouldn't having connections make you a better queen, then?"

You..you know? He's right! Mother did say sometimes you do have to make concessions and swallow one's pride for the long-term goal is essential. She was blinded by her pride and sense of superiority! She nods energetically, looking at River with a toothy grin, and extending her hand.

"You're absolutely right, River Johansen!"

"...wait I am?"

"Yes! I would think with your family was made of Vikings and barbarians, but it clearly shows why your family became the leaders of your kingdom!" She tries her most...royal voice, before giggling, and taking his hands. Weird, his face became redder again, is he embarrassed?

"Y-yeah...right...it was totally like that...wise and...smart!" He mumbles something under his breath, but Moon doesn't really acknowledge, she's pumped!

"Let's go! I need to present you to the others!" Moon rarely got that excited, and catches herself doing it; this time she's the one to blush, and take off her hands, cleaning her throat and looking on the side.

"I..I mean, it will be highly...beneficial for both of us to present ourselves, as we did dance together in the ball, didn't we?" She extends her hand to River, smiling warmly.

"O-oh...a-ahm...s-sure I guess! I suppose so!" He takes it, and Moon giggles, pulling him back into the party together, his pleas to slow down ignored.

In the end, his tip would be very much appreciated; while she personally still believed most of what they talked was frivolity, the relationship between Moon and the other princesses got fairly better...turns out Princess Spitfire did share her same love for art, and Waterfolk Princess could play some heavenly flute!

Of course, later she would learn that all the counsels that River gave were fruits of his nervousness and that well...the real River was a reckless, fun-loving warrior that dragged her more into messes the more she tried to make sure he was safe! But...well, that's part of the charm, isn't it? That's what made River...River! And she wouldn't change any of it.

 _ **\- OO -**_

Yes, she always attracted odd companies, didn't she? River on that dance, Dirt by the Forest, Rafael...Sky...but, is it that bad really? Isn't it from the oddest minds that the brightest results shine?

"Moon…"

Maybe she is weird, then? That...doesn't sound half bad! There's a certain perspective to be brought upon when one accept the oddities of life and take them as they go! A fresher perspective, an acceptance of the bizarre and uncommon brings an appreciation for normalcy.

"Moon, can you stop your daydreaming for a momen-"

Isn't every stranger a friend one haven't met yet? Maybe meeting this Dave and Skeevers is a blessing in disguise! A step forward to enhance her knowledge of Earth, and to become a better Queen for both king- wait, Earth Kingdom? Where did that thought come from?

Besides, the whole country sounds like a hassle. Maybe she could run for mayor when adult? Maybe yeah, just make sure both places are tidy, organized and-

"MOON THERE IS A GIANT SWIRLING HOLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. WHAT DO I DO!" He says panicked, his shirt looking half torn...and those two kids nowhere in sight.

Wait for wh-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

In the middle of the road, indeed, is some sort of hooded figure, looking wide-eyed at them, waving her hands as if they could really stop. It tried to jump out of the way, but all it got for it tries is a slamming, high-speed metal shopping cart, and 2 screaming teenagers.

Screw understanding. She just wants to get back home.

 _ **\- OO -**_

The tingling feeling that Sky is losing something that sounds really, really fun has nagged her head the whole day, but today of all days can't be a day she can follow Rafael and Moon for what is definitely some sort of highly amusing hijinks…

Well...they'll be okay. They have to be okay. Otherwise, nothing would make sense after that.

She bites her thumb in deep thought, glaring at the figure in the mirror. It's hopeless, each day passes and she'll look more and more like...her. How long will it take for her to figure it out? She can trust on Rafael not figuring it out, but Moon isn't as whimsical as most people she's used to dealing with.

It's a matter of time, eventually, she'll figure it out. And if she's not ready for them…

She looks by the window, where there's a single, white moth laying by the window...she idly reaches for a small pebble on her pocket, laying against her thumb and index finger, and extending it suddenly, slinging it towards the intruding insect.

As expected, however, it ricochets back to her, and Sky turns away, dodging as if it was part of the routine. She takes some steps out of the restroom of the park, looking back to see the moth gone. With a scowl, she's out of the female restroom...and facing face-to-face with Glossaryck.

"WOAH, woah woah, what are ya doing here, blue man...C'mon, respect the privacy...I could sue!"

"I highly doubt you even have money for a lawyer, or for actual decent hair-dye."

"Yes, indeed...struggle of the artist, after all. But it's ok!" She flicks his forehead with her finger, grinning toothily. "It's this struggle that makes my art as **EXPRESSIVE** and **WORTHFUL**!"

The flick isn't with any strength really, but it does spin Glossaryck quite a bit, who turns to her again, who looks busy with some stretching exercises.

"Although, may I dare ask, why you're bothering with lil ol' me? I'm just a highly talented, underappreciated genius, but still a human, right? I don't think I have any pudding on me...albeit I might have used it for a painting! Probably, I mix it up with the brown paint sometimes…"

She smells herself, shrugging "Sorry dude, no pudding."

Glossaryck just looks at her, giving an enigmatic smile "Yes, I suppose it was my mistake. Have a nice morning, Ms…

He only needs to silently mouth the name, her expression going from easy-going to terrified in a blink. He returns to his book, simply amused. Sky takes deep breaths, holding her chest with her hand…

...Weird blue man. It doesn't matter how odd and out of nowhere that was, she can't be late. With a loud sigh, she pulls the hoodie of her sweatshirt and crosses the street, starting to jog through the woods.

* * *

 **Looks like we're finally having plot again!**

 **Don't forget to rate and review, pls.**


	9. Moon of Arabia

**Yes I know, I took forever for a chapter that is significantly shorter than the last ones; But, as you will see, this one has a nice reason to~ Nonetheless, I apologize for how long it took to get it out, real life and Season 3B distracted me.**

 **How about that Starco kiss huh.**

 **Disney owns SVTFOE and your soul, accept your rat overlord.**

* * *

Moon is used to the effects of adrenaline on the body. Well...she knows on Earth it's called adrenaline, and a substance created by organs on the body to heighten the sensory and physical capacities of a person. Maybe on Earth humans, Mewni bodies are fundamentally different, even from her special capacities to your usual run-out-of-the mill Mewmian.

Magic, resilience, body phenotypes...really, all of it. Humans have more variety, but Mewmians are fairly stronger and rougher, although that might go on the theory of evolution might be the result of the rougher ambient that Moon's own species developed; Earth might be rough, but it doesn't have MONSTERS. Nonetheless, both human and mewmian while very similar in the surface, possess many biological AND psychological differences.

Humans are generally smarter, she can plainly admit it. To survive in an ambient without magic, and not a strong leader like the Queens to guide them. Would the future of Mewni really be on a system similar to Earth? The middle ages of this land are fairly similar to her own home really, excluding the politics and...again, lack of magic. Or hygiene.

Now, one might be wondering, were they reading on her deepest thoughts: "Oh, Moon, why are you rambling these things, when your last conscious memory was screaming your lung out, and crossing a dubious looking portal on Earth?

Well, non-existential stalker of her mind, the answer would be...a self-defense system. The selfsame adrenaline, and the instinct of years of following River in his "adventures" left her body prepared for almost *any* circumstance they found themselves in, her conscious mind sliding to a safe room to just...think of anything but the circumstance they are: It's probably moronic and she would be physically ill if she truly put all her mind to comprehend.

That being said, the situation is quite more serious than the usual, but she can't waste any time. Her eyes quickly washed over the scenario...fluffy sand, as far as the eyes could see...good, good, that could lower impact. The trajectory is bad, however, straight towards a rock that has these circular holes on it...their "passenger seems to have fallen around the time they came in, and she can't find her wand anywhere...this is bad. Really bad.

Oh, hello conscious mind, you didn't stay in the safe place for long, didn't you? With her gritted teeth, she pulls Rafael by the collar, the teen too busy screaming his lungs out to do anything particularly...well, stupid. Honestly, what she'll do is just as stupid, but what, they have...a second before they're pancakes on a wall. Her wand's nnnnnooot around- oh, it's tied to her back. Yep, conscious mind, you did it again.

She whips her wand, her hand sliding to Rafael's midsection, the boy still screaming. She jumps quickly, ignoring the unpleasant sound of metal twisting and breaking...oof, that would have been tough. With her wand on her other hand, she quickly tries to find any edge on the rock nearby, anything that woul- nice, one at the top. Creating the same whip as she did last time with Sky's car, she aims at the pointy edge at the top of the rock, high-fiving herself mentally as it succeeds. With Rafael holding tight on her, she swings, bleeding the vertical momentum they both were having on horizontal, increasing the length of her whip as a rope, until reaching the ground, gritting her teeth.

It's a rough landing, definitely. She's not sure how many spins she did on the impact, on how sand virtually got *everywhere*...it takes a few seconds for the momentum and all the spins to finally stop, leaving her face first with another mouthful of sand...thankfully the last. Her joint pops as she gets up, wincing as she feels...everything. Sand on ears, all over her, head, mouth...thankfully, almost none of the eyes. She shakes herself, getting as much loose sand off as she can, before taking a gaze around, trying to look where she is.

It's...sand, and rocks...and rocks...and sand. All of it, as far as her eyes can reach. This...doesn't look good, there's no visual reference?! She isn't familiar with this place too, she studied the rocks that compose her kingdom, thank you very much!

Unless...it's an uncharted area! If it is, what joy, she must bring maps at once, this is a disco-

"Moon...heeelp…"

Ah yes, Rafael! He draws very well, he can certainly help with the matters of cartography! She can make him the royal field cartographer for the time being until she get-

Ah yes, logic and memory, how are you, you took far too long. Yes...yes she knows. This is serious...and she's arguing with herself and anthropomorphizing the concepts of her brain, how low can she get?!

"Rafael...Rafael?...RAFAEL!"

She turns around, trying to find any indication of her wayward friend amongst the sea of...uncharted rock and sand. A hot windy breeze passes by, Moon wincing a bit, and rubbing her eyes as little grains got into it…

"...Marco?"

"...polo."

"...MARCO?"

"POLO!"

"There you are!"

Right there, by the shadow of another rock, is his legs hanging on the ground, moving quickly as Rafael undoubtedly tries to get off. She winces a bit...the frowns. How...loud was he speaking so she could actually hear him through so much s-

Oh...oh dear.

Grabbing him by the legs, she looks down on his position, sending a silent thanks to whichever deity watches over them that Rafael is both a knucklehead and that the ground wouldn't split his cranium crevice more widespread than butter on corn.

"Alright Rafael...on three, I'll pull up and you...hmm...get out. Hopefully"

She will think of the low groan as confirmation of her plan!

Moon isn't particularly strong; well, to mewnian standards that is, she learned fairly quick that most Earthlings are fairly weak, a byproduct of their peaceful, odd society lacking any sort of other species to compete; sure, as a Princess she shouldn't be strong, as some courts see princess as frail entities, but when you have to make sure someone like River, and more recently, Rafael and Sky out of an early demise, you tend to build up some upper body strength.

So, it isn't particularly tough to lift Rafael out of his sandy, insulating sand prison...what's particularly tough is to see his shoulder in a position that it definitely shouldn't be oh wow.

"...isn't that, hmm...hurting?" She points to the shoulder, her mouth a pressed line. Shoulders shouldn't...do loops.

"It is. In fact, the pain is extremely excruciating, and maddening. But I feel, that as matters of pain thresholds, I have…" Rafael speaks, his skin sunburnt, covered with small rashes from the sand, and...his shoulder. On his eyes, it's simple perhaps the concept of Nirvana, that she studied on the library every once in a while; to transcend to beyond body feelings...but that's supposed to be a good feeling. Not...hmm.

She approaches him, giving a kind smile...which goes unresponsive. Frowning worryingly, she begins...the fairly grim job of putting his shoulder back into place. Again...practice makes perfect, River was an enlightening experience in almost all fronts from medicine to combat for her, so even if this...shoulder looks completely unusable…

Well...again, River! Easy peasy!

The sun doesn't help, as well as the irritation...and quite frankly, the snaps make her quite grim, checking around out of habit; Rafael still looking completely dead to the world. It's...perhaps the adrenaline, still? Delaying the pain? Or...one of human's quirks? She needs to write th-

"Oh right, yeah, lost."

It takes a good chunk of time, but with a final *snap*, and...well, plenty of bruises, she is far from a doctor, she's sure she put the shoulder on the right place. Rafael is still eerily silent.

"Hmm...hey Raf-"

It begins quite low, really, a continuous mumble under his breath, rising in intensity in a subtle, but potentially way. From under his breath went to a an almost monotone aaaa...which rose in intensity and emotion. Like a crescendo from an opera, of sheer mind-numbing pain. A minute later, Rafael was rolling on the sand, screaming his lungs out of pain, and Moon...can't help but admire.

Because you see, adrenaline in the ways she understands of Mewni and Earth, they're kind of switch...while the reaction of pain is progressive, it's still fairly sudden as the body calms down, hypothetically speaking of course. But...what that is, what that was, was akin to slow motion! When the teacher puts those VHS slowed down, to say about the sloth's mating habits and everyone in class looks either sick or they're already sleeping while Moon finds all of that fascinating!

It's watching the reaction of pain and the effects on the body on a traumalogical and psychological matter! Oh, how she wishes she had her books!

"MOON PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF ANY GOD ABOVE AND BELOW, DO A SPELL, SOMETHING! THE PAIN, OH THE PAAAIN, IT'S BLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINDIIIIIING, AAAAAA-"

"Fascinating…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

This went on for minutes.

 **O -**

Now, normally a point would be made, really. Moon, admittedly, it's quite ashamed of her interest in one of her friend's pain basically overriding her usual instincts to maybe help them out...but in her defense, what could she do back then? She isn't Soupina, she doesn't know a lot of spells that numb the pain, especially one she did already fix!

Well...not fix fix, more like put the shoulder in the right place and make the entire area around different shades of purple fix. Again, Mewmians are way tougher, what can she do?

Maybe she didn't put the shoulder in the right place? That's worrying, but Rafael does alleviate her worry on that...even if he's a bit upset at the whole "ignoring your pleas of pain" thing.

"I...did say I'm sorry, right?"

"You did. Dozen of times in fact."

Currently, they're...well, they're walking directionless. Moon would have a plan, a goal, but currently, their worry is finding a shadow or anything, this sun is indeed quite harsh; Moon did try to conjure some cloth or a tent but...hmm…

They learned rather quickly that it's much better to conjure raw materials than something worked as cloth; nothing terrible happened, it's just…

Well...she isn't a weaver. She expected some clothing not actual piles of cloth thrown on them. At least they could shake off a bit of the sand and use it to hide a bit from the sun, so small reliefs there.

"Sooo...about that whole...pain th-"

Rafael stops a bit, his teeth audibly grating, making the young heiress cower a bit, laughing in nervousness.

"It's...ok...you're forgiven."

"You...don't really sound apologetic. That's...what I'm...worried about...y'know?"

Rafael's eyes twitch sporadically, and Moon's nervous grin can only widen, as she is sure at least half of the sweat she's working isn't necessarily of the heat outside…

\- . . . -

"I'm just...checking, that there's really no bad blood between us! Or...no blood at all really! Because we're a-okay! Sure, we got some...wounds, and scrapes and cuts but ultimately that only served to make us stronger and more..bounded!"

"Do you even realize what you're talking right now, Moon?" Rafael turns, teeth clearly rubbing against one another, as he pulls her with a rope made from the cloth conjure, up a hill.

"Yes, I'm apologi-"

"Just keep climbing Moon, please."

"Climbing."

\- . . . -

"Because like...you and me! Greatest pals, friends forever. Moon and Rafael, Ken and Stimpy, two peas in a podium! Inseparable partners!

"Yes. Quite literally."

As they were now tied up on the same rope, some sort of...pirate like monsters looking at them with licking lips. And fork and knives.

"Shouldn't you be kind of worried over that right now, Moon?!"

"Oh, them? Oh, that's simple." Wiggling her arm, she picks up the wand. The pirate-like monster's reaction is...admittedly, hilarious.

The force of the blast sending them falling down from the hill they spent the afternoon climbing? Considerably less funny.

\- . . . -

"But...you're not mad at me, right?"

Rafael, first and foremost, respects women. That much is clear, the path to becoming a true gentleman is to respect the fair gender, family, and anyone that respects you back. Patience, too, is a but one of the many trials he faces has faced and will face for the remainder of his life.

Rafael likes the thrill, the passion, but as every other human being, he also appreciates a bit of consistency in his life. Not enough to cripple him creatively, but enough to have something to lay back, a spine and an expectancy on his life.

He finally stops, Moon stopping alongside him. This cannot continue, he'll need to be the...responsible one here. With a loud, pent-up sigh, which just draws a wince from Moon.

"Look, Moon, I-"

"Oh look Rafael, a city! Finally!" With a loud gasp, a cheer and running to her destination, Moon leaves Rafael in the dust, running towards the shanty looking town.

Quite literally set in the dust really, as Rafael is left coughing on Moon's hurried steps. "Moon, wait- Oh god it's in my eyes again!" He rushes after her the best he can, mumbling under his breath about "reversed roles"

As they approached the "city", they had to correct some assumptions. The "city" was less of a city and more...well, a "junktown." Trailers, junk and scrap metal rose by "houses", which well...look more like taped pieces of jun- Nevermind, some of them are literally taped together.

"...wow what a dump." Moon finally says

"I...don't know. It's kind of beautiful, in its own way. The three R's right? Reduce, Recycle, Reuse. It's environmentally conscious and functional!" He mentions, moments before a loud metal screech, as one of the "shacks" can't stand, and collapses in a cacophony mess, both of them cringing at the sound of bending scrap.

"...no, it's just garbage. Come on, let's go find someone." Moon pulls him by the wrist, Rafael glaring at the back of her head

"Seconds ago you were the "irresponsible one" Rafael mumbles.

"Did you say something?" Moon turns to him, Rafael quickly whiplashing in a forced smile and a thumbs up.

"Nada."

"That's what I thought." She turns back, the facade falling behind her back quicker than the Wall of Berlin last year.

Rafael sighs, looking around, worries pushed aside now worming their way as his frustration. How long have they've been in this dimension? A day so far, yes? It did get suddenly dark before, after all...did that mean they've been a day out? Dread build-ups, as he analyzes the implications of it all...an entire day disappeared, the last time being on the race on the hill...that had some fairly harsh conclusions, wouldn't it? Kidnappers, accident, tall heights...they ought to be even running search parties.

His abuella must be so worried...Rafael bites his lips, pulling his sleeve in nervousness; it's fun to be around here, but they really can't be as leisurely as they're taking it. Biting his lip, he's ready to voice his-

But, as the universe's wicked sense of humor and picking of temporary punching bags, Rafael is yet again interrupted, this time with a metallic screech, as a door opens, hitting him right in the head and sending him crashing against a pile of scrap.

"Rafael not again?!" Moon shouts...or he thinks she shouted; concussions tend to make the perception of reality slightly twisted, after all. While he recovers, Moon turns for the offender, a particular trailer they stopped near; this one, however, looks fairly better than the rest of...everything, which really, isn't much. The wheels look clearly popped and wasted, the coloration of the chassis already yellow, and Moon yet again sincerely wonders where such an Earth-like vehicle made its way here.

"Heso heso, HUZZAH!" With such burst of energy and vocabulary, a goblin opens the window, looking well...odd. The Goblin wears thick-rimmed aviator glasses...with would be impressive, weren't the fact they're held together in the middle with duct tape...and the "glasses" look actually like the bottom of glass bottles sliced off; the clothing looks like one of those "Hawaiian shirts" but it has more mends and...band-aids holding than actual cloth, he also tried one of those straw hats but...it's just...nails. Glued together in a rough shape. She's internally wincing, even as she checks the goblin's smile...which isn't good.

She's not sure teeth can be THAT yellow without simply rotting!

"Welcome, welcome, gentleman and gentleladies, warriors and fiends, monsters and kings, to the one and only, the wonderful city, the shining jewel of this wonderful, glorious dimensiooon…." With a megaphone, and having absolutely no care, tact or love for others eardrums, the goblin keeps shouting, as if there was a crowd listening.

"Of Oasis! Enjoy the sights, the music, the ~~~women~~~" He does a little shake of his hip, Moon looks less and less impressed by the moment.

"Did...someone say, ladies?" Rafael's sluggish voice comes from behind the pile of virtual trash, Moon yet again remembering she's supposed to be taking care of him. With a gasp, she rushes to the refuse pile, tossing tetanus infested rust to the side, digging towards her friend.

"Trash, trash, trash, Limited Edition trash, trash, trash, Ooooh I'll need that~, trash, trashhhh….musical trash, pop trash….hey Raf." She smiles again, awkwardly, glancing at the teen, who just keep staring at her with a flat stare.

"...Eh...hm...so-" Moon is ready to apologize when, panicking, Rafael all but shoves the finger on her lips, his expression cold sweating

"I appreciate the gesture, but...don't say it. Please don't. Anything else, and I do mean, anything else...don't apologize. Seriously."

"...sorry."

All the reply Moon had was a guttural, almost maddening screech of barely contained rage, before Rafael picked up some of the trash around him, piling it back on him.

"...what are you doing."

"I'm venting my problems with my kin."

"...with the trash?"

"Yes. It understands me on a deeper, emotional level...as if it was where I came from. Where I'll go."

"...to the trashcan."

"A trrrraaaashcan doesn't APOLOGIZE FOR ENTIRE HOURS! I swear to god, if I hear another apology-" The goblin appears, proving the universe's twisted sense of humor right again, speaking on the obnoxiously loudspeaker.

"I'm sorry sir, but I would ask you t-"

One says that to see a mind snap is quiet. That it's the quiet ones that snap the loudest, and it's a saying her mother gave her to keep in mind when she'll be queen; to hone the feeling of wrongness, the sheer mental break sound as one's mind breaks the last barrier, and unleashes the entirety of the ID, the unsurpressing wildness and sheer primal mindset, contained within one's mind through the specie's own sentience, as well as the impositions of society, and generations upon generations of gene transmitting to make sure that, both Human and Mewmians could talk and live, speaking and acting less like their "cousins." That is the theory of evolution on Earth, one that Moon is skeptical, because quite simply, she thinks that when one regards the entirety of the Multiverse, and the existence of magic and such makes the whole theory too...self-contained in Moon's opinion; when dealing with magic, Chaos is a constant, not a danger, as some of her teachers would say.

That being said, Moon mentally checks herself to at least take some of...Nietzsche, yes? Maybe, the name is frankly odd; but, disregarding, yes, the teachings about how the man, when cutting loose from the chains of civility, becomes a primal beast of rage; she's seen a facsimile on River, yes, he's an oddball, but River never snapped.

Rafael certainly did. She's sure she couldn't even see his movement, or anything on his eyes besides pure white, as he grabbed the Goblin with his own two hands, screaming like a banshee, and gave a mighty leap, almost Olympian, and most definitely something that River could achieve, before slamming the goblin on the trash pile, like Michael Jordan did on that oddball sport. The Goblin couldn't even react, or protest before Rafael dunked him hard in the trash pile, before turning to the sky and releasing a primal screech of domination, the vultures flying off in fear, and if any predator was around Junktown at that moment, she's definitely certain they won't be getting a step.

Of course, that leaves the rampaging beast of her best friend, frothing saliva from his mouth in rage, and when his blank gaze washes over her...well.

In retrospect, again, she knows Rafael wouldn't hurt her, intentionally or otherwise. He has a really big point over never raising a hand against any woman, Men's Romance and all that, but at the same time, it was still one of her best friends in a berserker state, walking slowly towards her with very grabby hands. So...she did the thing.

You know. Kick him in the balls. Again and again. With her heel.

She's really not proud of that, and she swears she can feel River's glare on her for such an "unwarrior-like" and "dishonor"- wait why does she care, she's trying to save her skin!

So she kicks it again. And again. She keeps kicking until the roars of rage are but falsettos of absolute, mind-numbing pain and Rafael collapses, his eggs completely scrambled.

...That makes the second time she hurt him badly, however.

"...oh my god I am so sorry."

All Moon gets of a reply is a very high pitched whine of pain.

* * *

 **So our dynamic duo is stranded in a desert! Will Moon ever find her way back again? Will Rafael be able to even conceive Marco in this continuity after Moon's "Scrambled Eggs" Technique? And who is this goblin?**

 **Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z!**

 **Don't forget to rate and review, next chapter will be on Show Finale.**

 **As an apology, I leave you with an _omake~_**

* * *

 _Star taps impatiently against her drawer, hopping up and down in excitement! Why do you say? Wellllllll, today in School she was looking towards the corridors, wanting to take as much time as she possibly can to_ Skullnick _classroom without actually y'know, just stopping. Frankly, she speaks nonsense most of the time and it's so, so so so_ soooo _boring, but she did notice something super ultra super mega NARWHAL BLASTING INTERESTING!_

 _She always thought her Moon was always high and mighty and_ touty _and queen-like, and so so boring but this...What she found in school today, and she was never told?!_

 _Soon enough, Moon replies, her nail being done off screen as well as her hair, releasing a sigh, as Star undoubtedly called her for something._

 _"Yes, dear, how's it going?"_

 _"You never told me you were on Earth!" Star finally pops the question, shouting and making the Queen of Mewni grimace a bit, recovering from her small jump as her daughter screamed in the connection. Star pulling a copper looking plaque, holding an old looking photograph, the girl in the middle looking quite like Star but...Moon's eyes focus on the picture on it, a fond smile growing on her expression, the memories of that year, the good and the bad flowing on her. In a way, she is so happy that Star looks like she's enjoying it too; as she readies to speak of it, however...a small detail crosses her mind._

 _"Star...where did you get that plaque"_

 _"Well duh, from School!"_

 _"...did you...steal it from there?"_

 _"Well Duh! I mean, how can I not have this picture?!" She turns it to her, having an almost smug grin, looking at it "Look at your baby face, 1992 Soccer Captain, eh?" She turns to her grinning, as Moon hides her face, giggling slightly. "Didn't know you liked such...un-princess-like hobbies! You even had your hair in such a cute_ lil _' piggytail~!" Star can hear her father's laugh in the background, as Moon moans and hides her face deeper in her hands._

 _"Soccer,_ eh _dear! Well, you always were excellent at kicking balls! Hahahahaha!"_

 _Earth was a mistake, she should have sent it to Saint Olga if her own family's going to make fun of her now!_

 _…_

 _No, she can't even say that unironically. She turns to Star, her expression having some impact as her only daughter's laughter quickly evaporates._

 _"Anything else, Star?" She raises an eyebrow._

 _Star pursues her lips a bit...then looks on the side, almost embarrassed. "Can you...hmm, tell me more?" Moon blinks a bit, but a smile forms on her expression._

 _"Of course dear." Now this, this she can talk about._


	10. The Part that Nothing Really Happens!

**Each time I think I'll be more punctual I'm even less!**

 **Guest - Don't you know it ;-)**

 **Allen - You would be surprised! Moon has the worst luck for friends...or is it the best?**

 **Anyway, you know what you're here for! Let's get on with it!**

* * *

Moon may have gone a bit overboard with everythin- who is she kidding, this is an absolute, unfathomable disaster. A completely utter, almost unredeemable mess of a situation, with very little to be fixed or salvaged beyond wallowing herself on her own growing despair.

It's dramatic, but even someone as her is allowed to have a flair for the ham-fisted emotions once in a bit, especially these past days of her life, glaringly so on herself-admitted, first foray in the multiverse; now, that sounds odd for someone like her, Princess of Mewni, to never have once even went on another multiverse, and admittedly that is a technical lie; she has, but...well, she simply didn't feel the need to go through the rest; she went with her mother on official business and that was the extent of her travels, why would she bother with interdimensional travels that weren't for her formation as a Queen? Hells, even the hunts with River had the purpose to understand better the land she would rule one day, for all intents and purposes she wouldn't need to travel until she was Queen. Then, she could get the scissors, and use them as necessary.

So, unlike her dear mother, she didn't get them out of a trial on her young days, and now that's a fact she's dearly regretting, as she's now lost on a desert dimension, with two wounded personnel, and the sun clearly isn't HELPING. Moon wipes her brow, panting at the heat, as she drags the Gremlin on the sand, towards a shady spot; which is basically four pipes she found scavenging around, and a wide rusty board...held together with spit, chains, and prayers; she's low key proud of it, the first building of many! Under the shade, Rafael already rests, and a winces as the memories of her punishment comes to mind

Yep, she overdid it.

Laying the unconscious goblin at Rafael's side, she stops, looking at both of them and scratching her arm, scouring the deepest recess of her mind for any kind of inkling, any kind of plan or anything she can do!

She's never been alone for this kind of matters!

Well...she's been around River enough, didn't she? Almost every day, in fact! She just needs to think...to draw for the well of madness, she's sure it's within her at this point! The maddening, the pool to draw the completely irrational, unthinkable, utterly inexplicable logic that guides actions that, somehow, against all manner of common sense and decency-

This isn't working. She is way too rational for it, she can't really pull the insanity that her friends can! Groaning, she lays on Rafael's left, rubbing her face with her palms and groaning in frustration. She needs a plan, a stratagem, something, any inkling of an idea!

Licking her lips, she coughs a bit, finally noticing how dry her mouth is feeling...dehydration, right? She should conjure some water, at least refresh her mind… Yes, and Rafael...will probably need some ice. Yep…

She really did mess everything up. Getting up and stretching her back, she pulls her crystal wand, looking at her own reflection...messy, hair full of sand, scratches all over, and a resigned expression...bottom of the barrel, right there…

Bottom...bottom…

That's it. That's really it. A gamble at the very best, but soo...is anything, really. So is ruling...making decisions, trusting on what information you have. Shaking the last of her earlier despair, she heads purposefully to the unconscious goblin, wincing a bit at what she's about to do…

"...Water Blast?...Acquaaaarius...thinkiticious? Haaaann…oh right, imagination. Eeer..." With her eyes closed, she pictures one of those hoses. It's effective, as she opens her eyes and it's greeted with the sight of the goblin flailing at a spray of cold water hits him.

"No mom, mom, just five minutes, mooootheeeer~" She can't help but raise an eyebrow at the hmm...display. She expected a harsh waking up not...playful batting at the water...on a desert.

Familiarity with water on a desert. Another note.

After she quickly ceases the flow of water, the groggy goblin seems to shake off the stupor of unconsciousness, standing up, dazed. Rubbing his head and getting up, he looks at his surroundings, eyes wincing as the light outside clearly blinds him, but eventually he returns to full consciousness, the first sight of him being the fairly roughed up princess standing in front of him...he shakily seems to get awareness of the situation, adjusting the collar of his tattered shirt, and searching for his glasses.

"Sorry, your glasses didn't survive the impact." She winces a bit, the globin hissing through his teeth, and rubbing his temples.

"What...happened?"

"My friend he...hmm...went insane?"

"Insane?"

"Insane."

She forces another smile, glancing at her friend with another wince...if she keeps wincing, she'll make premature stress lines, she just knows it.

"Still...insane or not, that was a bit...much?" Moon sighs, nodding, and looking at her wand again, a quick spell flashing and dropping some cloth on the ground...he looks at her quizzically, to which Moon simply shrugs.

"I don't know, you were going to scam us, anyway." Moon replies, shrugging and giggling, looking at his face with an expression waiting a sort of reaction...that never really comes, both of them simply staring at each other...probably waiting for the other to give away.

"Huh. So you knew."

"Yep…"

"..."

"..."

So they keep the stare off...again. One in clear shade, the other standing on the blazing, unforgiving sun...seriously, that is asking for skin cancer, she'll either get the best of bronze or-

Oh finally, he's trying to run away, sheesh! Took long enough, Monsters right?

Oh...that is a bit mean, really. It's an interdimensional being, not a Mewniam Monster! But...well, there's not many differences really, is there? Interdimensional beings are in all odd shapes and really, the difference between Monsters and simply other multiverse denizens is fickle at best and uncertain at worse...there needs to have some form of categorization, really!

Oh, she's mentally rambling again, and the goblin's getting away. Coool...Remembering the incident with Sky's car, she quickly whips up an energy whip from her wand, waving it a bit before lashing it at the Goblin's feet, and quickly pulling, tripping him; he does try to get rid of the whip, but just a quick harsh pull brings the diminutive man back to her area of effect.

"What in tarn- AAAaa...o-oh, hey! I...hmm...didn't see ya there, young girl! Welcome to Juuuuunktoooown!" He tries his hardest at a...Cajun accent, she thinks? Probably, not sure. Moon replies by picking him by the collar, staring at him with an amused expression.

"Y'y'know you shouldn't be mad at me! Your friend right there gave me the beatin' o' a lifetime y'know! I may have broken bones! Don't you think it will be a bit overboard to beat me up too?! How in the blazes did you even know?!" he finally cries out, going limp.

"Simple...we were captured before."

"Say what?"

"Captured, yep. Me and my friendo here, big pal, big friend, we were captured by bandits while walking around." She nudges with her head, the goblin tilting his eyebrow.

"And what...does that exactly have to do with me?"

"Whyyy yes how would that?!" She narrows her eyes, glaring at the goblin "Why would bandits we escaped hours ago try to catch us again?! On a widespread desert, an entire dimension like that?! Why specifically us!" She screams at her face, eyes narrowed...the goblin loses the sense of danger, staring at Moon as if she grew a second head.

"No, I didn't want to catch you at all, are you crazy?"

"Yeah, you and your monster pals! How did you even know I escaped, we've kept it under wraps! Was it the mudmen, wasn't it?! Tell me!"

She starts shaking him, her teeth gritting, anxiety building up even more...true, she wasn't picking the signs before, but as time passed and she had to sit under this unbearably hot sun, it is all starting to pick up! The information must have leaked, that is why even in this absolute NOWHERE of a dimension, they were still captured! They're set, targeted, aimed, burned, Mewni's in danger, it must be burning right now, she must go back, she m-

"Please, for the love of- STOP SHAKING ME!" The goblin slaps her hand, the instinctive wince dropping him on the ground face first; he pushes himself back, cracking his neck and spitting sand...she rubs her hand, muttering under her breath again.

"Look! Clearly, both you and that GORILLA of a man are insane! I'm not with anyone, I wasn't going to kidnap you, I was going to make you buy merchandise!"

"...Merchandise."

"Yes, Merchandise! That is the scam! Overly priced merchandise!"

"...of what?!"

"Junktown of course! First city o' Desertbowl made entirely outta junk!" He says proudly, falling back on the "snake oil salesman" accent, waving around his creation as if there is something to be anything proud...again, as Moon looks around, it's a city made entirely out of junk hastily taped or banged together to vaguely resemble shacks. This is something that is somehow worse than the house of some of the commoners.

"...and that is an achievement hooooww…"

"Lady, you know how hard it was to build this ol' city from the junk scrap? And without them pirates just skinnin' me and making me a carpet for their sweaty bodies? I really deserve a prize outta that!"

Wait for what. Her confusion must be reciprocated, as Rafael returns from the realm of Orpheus, his eyes blinking as he moves his body, moaning in pain at any movement, his hand unconsciously grabbing his most prized member. Pirates...does that mean there is any sea around here? Water means civilization! Civilization means someone ought to have scissors!

"Whatever, I don't care" Moon cuts him off, rubbing her face before forcing a smile. She really needs to keep soldiering on, after all. "You said pirates right? So we're close to the coast then?" This whole desert might be, after all, only one big stretch of sand, and they're close to water! Water means uncertainty civilization...well, most of the time; there's not many cities on Mewnian seas, considering monsters and sea monsters and-

"What sea, are you crazy, crazy lady? It's sand for the north, left and the rest o' em!" Again, the goblin speaks to her in that condescending tone that makes she want to kick it! She's a royal, a princess, she doesn't deserve to be treated that-

"MOON, MI HIJA, PLEASE STOP PLEASE STOP!" Rafael is holding her back with all her strength, holding her midchest with his arms, still in clear pain, the boy holding what the frothing rageful princess from kicking him even more, as she shouts and kicks curses that definitely she doesn't remember ever learning; why is that happening, it's like someone pressed skip on the VCR?! She wouldn't do anything like that, she only did that to Rafael out of self-defense!

"You know what, you brats?! I had enough of you both!" The goblin finally bursts into action, cradling his rui- well, more ruined sunglasses, if that is even remotely possible at this point. "Since you've come on this place, you've all done nothing more than destroy, break, ridicule and maim my person! Me, the mayor of Junktown! You were all but an omage of bad news, a symbol of sin, and everything wrong with this world!" He screams, downright furious, slamming his feet on the ground, which would probably be more impressive weren't his fairly diminutive height...really, it sounds more like a child not having her own way.

Which, in retrospect, it's quite mean to say coming out of, admittedly, the property damage she and Rafael caused...but it's all junk.I guess a meaningful junk. But...admittedly, losing access to this place was bad; as Junktown was junk it was still, in the end...shade, and this sun really was completely unforgiving...this is bad.

Turns out venting your frustrations on random strangers on the Multiverse is a bad idea. Oh, she finally did something River-Stupid then!

"What if we buy the merchandise?"

She could hear the sounds of a cash register from where she was.

\- oo -

Turns out, for all the crap she gave earlier, that the goblin somehow managed to make fairly good quality clothes! Sure, the texture is a little itchy, and the logo on the front is clearly drawn with pen, but she...y'know, expected something made out of paper, really, or whatever Monsters normally used for clothing.

Rafael can replace his torn clothing, his torn vanity jacket replaced by a fairly tight grey shirt with a slogan of Junktown on the front, drawn with what seems obvious to be sharpies and pen…

Moon, as painful as it is to her, ditched the dress for a while, silently thankful as it is quite stuffy in this heat; wearing a shirt a tank top with her dress skirt, the end of it rolled up to guarantee better maneuverability, her hair is tied in a ponytail with her own hair, making a knot that she mentally notes will be hell to unmake the moment she gets a cold, refreshing shower...but, really, that's for later. Right now?

Plan crunching time.

"You got a plan, Moon? Cause...y'know...the ra-"

Frankly, she forgot all about it. Anyway, it's unnecessary information!

"And about that creep that sent us he-"

Unnecessary information!

"Don't worry about it Rafael, because I have a plan!"

"A plan…"

"Yes. I'll get out of here in one fell swoop" She speaks, eyes closed and waving her hands absently minded, a confident expression on her face.

"Is it going to be like one of your sure-fired plans?" Rafael asks skeptically, unconsciously still holding his "jewels".

"Have I ever failed you, Rafael?" She turns to him, all the frustration and general insanity of earlier pushed in some recess of her mind "I was taught under the brightest tacticians and minds of Mewni, the arts of warfare, and enemy psychology...sure, I was a bit stressed before, but now?"

She gives a little hop and a V of victory to her friend, grinning "I'll get us out in no time at all! Just have a little more faith, okay?" She holds the position for some moments, grin slowly dying and becoming more awkward the more Rafael stares at her...she coughs and looks on the side "Something...hmm...wrong?"

"No...nothing much." He folds his arms with a smile, nudging his head out of the room they were "Lead the way, Princess".

Moon pauses for a bit...before giggling, covering her mouth with her hand, before straightening her back, putting the poshest voice possible "Of course, Rafael Diaz from Earth, Patron of the Arts, I am the most humbled for your support in my endeavors!" They keep their postures for a moment, before breaking into a fit of uncontrollable laughter…

She's...enjoying herself, isn't she? That's an adventure, that's all the rage, all the fuzz...that's what her mother always said she was missing out on; well...as long as she has things on control, she can say it's...quite fun! It's something that she can, indeed, get used to! With this renewed purpose, she pushes out of the room, the Goblin on the outside waiting, and pulling his glasses off his eyes, Moon controlling the urge to roll her eyebrows at a clearly forced show.

"Woooweee, gotta say, those shirts? Really make your eyes shine! Now that will be forty-"

"How about we pay you-"

The goblin immediately narrows his eyes, tapping his feet "Are you going to swindle me again?! After all the pain, all the suffering, all you take, and you will have the audacity to bargain or something else? Why I shoulda…"

"What if I said I could get us a way to leave this dimension"

"As I was saying, feel free to take it as gifts! Any chance to expand the brand of Junktown wou-" the goblin rushes, holding Moon by the shirt, the glasses finally collapsing on a pleading expression

"Please, random lady, I'll forgive you for everything, just get me out of he-he-he-heeereeeeee" She grips it harder, clearly sobbing. Moon would be bothered but...nothing will ruin her mood.

"Alright. The first step of the plan?" She leans lower to him, grinning "Tell me everything you know about these pirates."

The information would be very pleasing...time to put that River mentality to work!

OO -

Mewni isn't a fairly big kingdom; for such a big, wide stretch of land, the kingdom itself is just a small, decimal part of it, coupled with others smaller kingdoms, not necessarily humanoids too…

It's really infuriating, gives him conniptions. This fairly small kingdom, surrounded by its bubble, controls the vast land, unchallenged by its peers, it's ever-present tyranny forever imprinting the sole of its metal boots upon monster-kind; all of them, instruments of oppression, and when the wind of changes finally comes and the kingdom of the Butterflies have their upcoming, they'll follow suit, and monsters will finally have their rightful land from the usurpers.

At glance, however, one would think why would he care? He doesn't look like a monster! No sharp, no claws, no yellow colored eyes, in fact, he looks entirely, utterly normal…

That is, indeed, the point.

It has taken years after years, trial and error, but more and more have the mudmen infiltrated Mewnian society, perfecting their solid, fake skin to downright perfection; being made from solid matter, one can't detect it magically, and if one tries to cut them, the essence in between the layers of the fake skin paints the mud coming out, giving it a nice, red tone...all in waiting, all in preparation to the long-term revenge.

Of course, reaching your usual hideout while seeing the chat about the dreadful "Mud Sisters" can really impact one's spirits.

"I heard she actually eats them! Like, raw!"

"I can attest that aye! Why, one time me and m' team got caught, we thought of running in the sewers would help, but they just ran after us!" His voice lowers to a whisper "Some of the folks say they're betrayers, that sold to the cro-"

"No, no way. I don't think even I know my body that well!"

Sure, the "Mud sisters" have delayed their plans by a fair margin...it's like they had this almost unnatural detection of their fellows, and the very few that escape their clutches, but it's the risks of the job, the price of freedom from their tyranny...like the General said, can't have an omelet without cracking eggs.

Besides...where he is? He's got the target around him almost every day of the week!...Or well, used to. It's even why he's coming here again, frowning as he opens the wooden door to the dirty looking tavern; rats scatter as the movement of the door interrupts their nap, bats and cockroaches also scatter due to the disturbance; there are clear signs of water infiltration everywhere, the entirety of the place smells like mold and rot.

Huh. Old Nick's been cleaning up then, yesterday was way, way worse!

The hooded fellow reaches the table, muddy dripping claws marking the old, half eaten by termites table, the old men by the table nodding, and reaching down to the most cutting-edge technology of communication, essential for communication between the many, many infiltrated cells in this forsaken kingdom.

A magical telephone. This one even ditches the old circly-thing, instead of having actual buttons, that one press! It cost probably months of food, but hey...it was worth it, oh so worth it!

Not so worth it now, considering who he's about to call...well, any time good as any, and the more he delay…

"20...15...6...6...5…"

He wishes he wouldn't answer. Just...hang up. But life isn't kind, and the tell-tale click informing him that in the other end, the general has picked up.

"Mud."

"S-sir. I-I've come to give my...weekly report."

"Don't."

"...S-si-"

"You're going to be speaking about how for this past week, the princess hasn't appeared, will you?"

'Mud' seems to pause for a bit, hand gripping the line of the phone in clear nervousness.

"Well...yes, but you see sir...there's not much I can do? After the call-in by the queen, there simply isn't much I can do only by myself! The infiltrators on the Castle have been failing to really get in the circle we would know anything about the princess…"

"So...you're saying that not only you but you and your entire group...have been failing."

It's spoken in such factual tone, such casual coldness that a shudder runs up Mud's spine, the mudmen moving the speaker away from his mouth to gag in nervousness, before approaching again. A loud sigh is heard, as well as the sound of rustling of papers.

"As you surely understand, the success of this campaign relies solely on cutting the head of the snake; don't use the failings of your fellows as an excuse to your own, your job is much more important…" He seems to be writing something. "If by the time of our definitive strike to the Butterfly Castle, any of their royal heirs escape our grasp, they can easily appeal to the other kingdoms for assistance."

Another pause, as the sound of a pen being set on the wooden table, is noted almost barely through the transmission

"The king of Monsters wants a deal, doesn't he? Then we must push this as quickly as we can, and for the Butterflies, as long as they're safe, they won't care if the world around them is burning. So far, the only reason we haven't faced the wrath of their allies is that they simply undermine our threat."

"Yes, sir...I kno-"

"If you know, why are you wasting your and my time by not going after her."

He feels like vomiting, puking, the presence of the General clear even if his physical presence is away. With another loud groan, he continues.

"You have a week to find anything. Any trail, any sign of Princess Moon Butterfly. If by any chance you're captured, you fail or you desert...making threats are pointless most of the time, hurts productivity, as well civilized beings such as we know, and the Mewnians refuse to accept…"

"Y-ye-"

"But, if in a week you fail your mission in any sense or form, and your next report is another waste of my time, I'll tell the cook of the King we'll be having mud pie. Fresh mud pie."

"..."

"Don't waste my time again."

'Mud' barely acknowledges as the general hangs the phone. For all the sacrifices talk...Mud really doesn't want to be one.

* * *

 **Don't forget to rate and Review! It keeps the story alive!**

 **I should give the Jackie story some love now...and maybe something new too! We'll see. Next chapter, we will see Moon's plans and maaaybe a bit of Mewni again!**

 **Fireware, etc etc.**


	11. The Part where things go Right

**Wow, can't make a promise huh? I do have a good reason for dissapearing, but you know what you're here for! Huge thanks for** Regigimass **for the shout-out, please check his story! It has unfortunately, less blatant 90's, but that's to be expected!**

 **Unlike my story, you won't need to wait until the end to even see Star! Or will you?**

 **Anyway, enjoy the story, SVTFOE is owned by the overlords of Disney, yadda yadda. AN at the end!**

* * *

If one thinks really hard and focused, piracy in the sand isn't really different from piracy in the wide open sea: The dunes are just like waves, but instead of making your clothes sticky, they just irritate your skin; the sweat does the job. Instead of fishing, they simply get lucky with the odd animal or two that get lost and even if the haul is null, a good old Rock Soup does its job, especially if it's a really good rock. Instead of spending resources on renovating the hull and other trivial matter, they simply let the absurdly slippery sand guide them, and maybe, just maybe, an actual breeze will help them! If the terrain gets less manageable, then his useless crew can just push the boat to more smooth regions.

Another good thing about the desert, too! Mutiny is basically a zero issue. Sure, in the first days there was a lot until the idiots realized that they're stuck together, too! If they depose the Captain Golder Teeth, where will they even turn? There's no sea, no islands or civilization as far as they know! They're all stuck here, and they have absolutely no chance of escaping because that blasted, irritating, cursed to the seven hundred seas and back captain Candy Beard fooled them with that blasted portal!

Captain Gold Teeth sighs, rubbing his temple, and fanning himself with his hand. Positive thinking is all well and good, but they really won't last on this cursed wasteland. He's pretty sure by now that the surprise burgers and the "folk that tried their luck out" are one and the same, the chef from his ship was always odd, and the heatstrokes obviously didn't help but what could he do? He needs dimensional scissors, anything to get out of here. He still dreams of this moment, the day he'll finally be on solid ground, he'll just give it all up. This piracy, this deal...it's not worth it, it's all not worth it at all. Especially when you're the only human in the crew, and he swears he can see a glint of an eye on some of his more feral crew members.

Maybe he'll just open a hot dog stand. But before all that, it's time to check on the only barely classified piece of civilization on this complete hell, approaching from the distance...Junktown, that city from that delusion goblin; every once in awhile, he does have something for them, and it helps. Helps to the fact that he is too stupid to realize he's sitting under an actual water source. Pirates do tributes of course, and he helps keep Junktown safe, after all! He's a philantro...trop...a good pirate!

Sure, the fact that there's VERY little to even protect is a side issue, but fine prints and forceful cohesion aren't things that he could even y'know, argue. In the distance, he can see already that pile of metal trash, bringing a grin to his face. Bullying, now that is a pirate thing to do.

"Ahoy Mateys! Junktown at a distance! Let's go visit an old friend, and shake him down a little, aye?"

He silently waits the aye that never comes. Their throats are too dry to even speak, after all.

\- oo -

This is suspicious. Very suspicious. Junktown was always empty, filled with scarecrows to help that loser with the fact he lived in a pile of trash from other dimensions alone, but even those are missing, and that goblin also always stayed on that gift shop with the big stupid grin that fades beautifully when he sees them. Right now, there's absolutely nothing around them. Nada. Golder Teeth grows; is that idiot trying to hide this time, doesn't he realize what happened last time?

"Boys, guess we'll be giving our friend the good ol' nosedive treatment again! Hahaha!"

He, yet again, waits for the malicious laugh that never comes from his crew, who looks at them with that weird stare. Wait...where's even the chef?

He turns, completely manly, confident, and not nervous at all, silently thinking that maybe, juuust maybe, he really SHOULD try his luck in the desert than risk dealing with this crew anymore. Cracking his knuckles, he starts walking around the pile of trash after the goblins, his crew doing the same, probably to occupy their minds with anything at all.

Unbeknownst to the captain, however, the crew on their singular starts being pelted by rocks. Some of them ignore, others immediately grow and go slowly towards the direction of the rocks, and those that ignored even are threw bigger ones until they can't refuse. Soon, each pirate member is somewhere...conspicuously close to one of the buildings.

"Greeney, where are yooouuuu? I just want to have a little chaaat y'know? Nothing really...menacing or anything! Just a compadre to compadre speech! We're friends aren't we, no need to hideeeee!"

He looks around, searching for any utensil in this complete dumb until his eyes fixate on a pipe sticking out of the sand. Perfect. With a toothy grin, he grips it and pulls.

Hnngh!

 _ **Hnnnnnngh!**_

...

It's giving more resistance than he expected. The grin turns into a frown, as he grips with both his hands and starts to pull as much as possible; with a final mighty pull, his veins already popping from the forehead, he yanks it off. He grins, but that's shortlived as a loud slam scares him, making him jump. The """building""" he was near starting to shake, before collapsing in pieces and trash and rubble, rolling over and collapsing on the ground on a cacophony of metal, as well as hearing the pained grunts and screams of some of his crew members. Ooooh...that's not good. He pissed someone off. He gulps a little, then groans. The quicker he diverts their attention off of him, the quicker he is safe.

"Look what you made me do! I hope you're hiding really well, Greenie, cause when I find you, I'll-"

"You will do what?"

Standing with his arms crossed, his rags for clothing, the goblin is standing against the wall, looking at the Pirate completely nonchalant. That little turnip...he has no business standing around like that! He should be shaking on his boots, like the little loser he is. Gold Teeth growls, then give a wicked smile, starting to smack the pipe against his palm.

"Well, well, well, who comes crawling from the sands, a virtual worm!" He gives another smach on his palm with the pipe, the smile quickly morphing into a scowl as he notices that he's still not groveling or bowing like he should. "I hope you enjoyed your little downtime. Cause when I'm done with you, I swea-"

"You'll swear what you big, huge jerk."

You could hear glass crashing from somewhere, as his face pauses. He starts gripping the pipe even stronger, his teeth grinding as he dares to even *smile*. Before he can speak, before he can verbally put that dwarf to his place, that little turd just cuts him off again.

"You're old news, Fool's Gold Teeth! Fake news! A loser, a worthless pranter! A sham! Nothing you will ever do will ever amount to anything! Today, you'll just rot in this dustbowl!"

He gives a smugger smile, clearly ignoring his absolute death declaration.

"Cause I'm getting riiiiight outta here! With this!"

The goblin grin only widen, and reaches for his pocket, holding a pair of-

Dimensional Scissors.

His mind instantly shuts down, all higher thought process and situational awareness shutting down as his focus and line of sight narrows down two only two things. The scissors he's holding into his tiny, unworthy hands. The crystal in the middle, twinkling and promising freedom above all. The beautiful, sensual line of those scissors, sharp enough to cut through dimensions, the smell of the saltwater, the brime, the waves...he can already hear them, the sweet sensation of the happier times and the freedom he had. The despair of being lost in this boundless, endless desert, stuck with a crew that slowly inches more and more on bestial behavior and cannibalism. All of that.

All in the reach of his hands. All he needs to do...is swing the pipe. Crack a skull. Leave it all behind. An honest life. An honest life. AN HONEST LIFE.

With an animalistic howl and a screech, the pirate starts running towards the goblin, who gives a girly screech and starts to run. Besides all the panic, the goblin can't help but smile.

 **\- x -**

 _"So if I get it right, everyone in this dimension is stuck, right?" Moon says, sitting on the ground together with Rafael. She would have preferred an actual planning table, but the offer to make chairs and table out of trash would both be risky and begging to contract tetanus._

 _Whatever that is, really. She just didn't want to risk sitting on something that would collapse, but Rafael warned about this disease._

 _"Yes yes. We were all cast by a portal somewhere. As far as we know, there are no cities around!" The goblin nodded quickly, looking at a pair of scissors_ on _his hand with a gleeful look._

 _"How...long were these pirates around, if I may ask?" Rafael speaks, sitting awkwardly on the sand, fanning himself with a piece of roof._

 _"Oh, very very long! Even on my first day, they've been around to rough me up, the bullies, the meanies!"_

 _"So, you can say they're as desperate as you?"_

 _The goblin takes some time to think, rubbing his chin, before speaking:_

 _"Honestly, the captain of all of them is definitely more desperate. His crew kind of...y'know…" He makes a snap with his fingers. "They're really creepy and keep looking at me and him while licking their lips. And each visit, y'know...there's fewer people."_

 _While Rafael looks horrified, Moon simply scoffs and roll her eyes. Monsters. Sounds about right;_

 _"Y'know, they could just be...leaving. Like, try to make luck for themselves!" He says nervously, looking on the side._

 _"Keep telling yourself, buddy."_

 _An awkward silence stretches, especially when Rafael claps his hands and begins...praying. Yep, weird._

 _"So, am I right to say that he's as obsessed to getting out of here as you?"_

 _"Absolutely right, ma'am. If Golder Teeth could find a way to get out, he would in a jiffy!"_

 _"Jiff?"_

 _"Immediately."_

 _"Ah."_

 _"So, the captain doesn't really have any control over the crew. What he has is mostly due to their apathy, it seems...so if a situation arises that overrides said apathy…"_

 _Rafael widens her eyes and nods "They would immediately turn on him."_

 _"Yes. For that, however, we need a bait. And something that he desires, more than anything else…"_

 _"These scissors? Are they the real thing?"_

 _"Of course not. You can clearly see."_

 _"...but he won't know. He's too desperate!"_

 _"Exactly...and for the second part…"_

x -

Being made as bait for the whole plan should have bothered him more, but three things are matters in which his uncomfortableness was kind of muted; first, those two have already been acting like jerks since they've come in, and this was small compared to the complete mess the two of them made of him earlier; second, he always did want to piss Gold Teeth. And third...well, with the plan, he has a chance of getting OUT of here. Leave it all behind, an honest life!

He would be, of course, more thrilled if he wasn't currently running away from a rampaging, frothing mad pirate swinging the pipe left and right. As requested, he avoided open spaces, using from his secrets nooks and crannies to enter the buildings, running out of it and, much like Moon predicted, the Captain was too desperate and obsessed to even acknowledge that, slamming against the structures, or straight up swinging it supports off, as the buildings collapsed one by one. Some straight up fell, and others, however, would tilt, crashing even more buildings and causing more mayhem if that was even possible; buildings that some of his crew were around, their apathy and slugginess not giving enough time to react before the roofs and buildings would fall on their heads.

Of course, Gold Tooth wouldn't care. Weaving expertly through Junktown, and giving goodbyes to each citizen of Junktown, his heart aching on his chest, their silent, metal expressions and the sounds of the wind impacting on them giving him words of encouragement; unlike everyone else, they loved Junktown. They saw the heart, the soul of this city, how he molded his despair and loneliness into...a piece of art. A complete monument, how he breathed life into this wonderful land. And now, that he's going away, it's all collapsing...it's fitting, it's poetic, the citizens of Junktown know their role, and they fight to the hardest for his happiness...he loves them, he loves them al-

A sharp pain hits the back of his head, sending him rolling on the ground roughly. At least a mouthful of gravel gets inside of it by the time he stops rolling, the goblin spitting and whipping it out before his head is grabbed roughly by his palm. Ah yes, fear and dread, his old friend, how are you doing?

Shakily, the goblin is raised by the maddened captain, who stares at him with the widest grin, his eye twitching, and heavy breathing. Small cuts and bruises are all over him, as he takes a shallow breath

 **"You made me go through hell, you little turd, but that will be all over. I'll be taking this little scissor, and you'll be having a pretty,** rouuuund **skull cave in!"**

Even with the knowledge of the plan, he can't help but shake on his metaphorical, non-existent boots as the pirate raises the pipe higher, the sun glistening on the rust as it starts the descent towards him. Eyes closed tightly, waiting for a strike...that never comes. Instead, he feels himself falling and landing butt in the sand. He opens his eyes and widens with a huge grin at the sight.

 **\- x -**

 _"How...well do you know Junktown, Goblin?"_

 _"Hmm...my name is Ste-"_

 _Before Ste can say his most likely boring name, they're interrupted by the buzzing sound in the distance. Getting up, and climbing the roof of one of the buildings to check, they can notice the distant cloud of dust moving slowly towards them, as the three of them get up and squint their eyes at a very distant cloud dust._

 _"I...think that's them."_

 _The goblin gulps, suddenly acknowledging the rush. "I know like the back of my palm and every single citizen of this wondrous city! I built it all myself!"_

 _Moon nods. "Good. Cause you'll need to collapse it all."_

 _The goblin freezes for a moment, before his face locks in a furious scowl, and points a finger at the Princess, uncaring at the warning glare from Rafael "Look, Princess, if you think **you c** -"_

 _Before his angry tirade can get hot air, Moon crouches down, sighing and looking directly. "Look. I know it's hard, I can really be. But you know this is all...a delusion. I can appreciate the passion and the love you feel for...Junktown." She pauses, looking around in a bit of a grimace, before shaking her head. "But...you'll die if you don't let go. With how I'm planning things, we can find a way out of here, I'm just asking you to trust me. If not as a person, then as the future ruler of the Kingdom of_ Mewni _."_

 _The goblin gasps; Mewni, Royalty, what? The questions storm as she stands on her full weight, hands folded on her back "I need to collapse the city ON his goons. Distract them to go around, angle his maddening pursuit of you to collapse these buildings, as well as someone to distract them. Rafael, can you throw rocks at them, get them into the buildings around the time that the Captain finds our friend?"_

 _"Wouldn't that just make us a target instead?"_

 _"If they're as angry with the captain as I imagine, then they're just looking for an excuse to club him."_

 _"You got it, Moon!" He gives a jovial thumbs up_

 _The goblin pauses for a bit, before looking at Moon up with his hands closed tightly "I'll do it. But at least give me time to say Goodbye. Ok? Can you at least allow me that?!" He barbs and Moon nods, the diminutive monster sighing and turning almost depressed towards his city._

 _Rafael turns to Moon, a bit of a worried expression on his face "Don't you think it's a bit rough?"_ Moon _looks at Rafael and shakes her head._

 _"I don't like Monsters at all. Yet...I suppose there's something oddly familiar, you know. Of all this...loneliness, and wanting to fill the void with something." She pauses, looking down on his palm "I did with books, studies, and Mother, and some few friends. But he doesn't have any, but imagination._ Mewman _, Human, Monster or whatever...I wouldn't want to just let him dry here."_

 _Rafael pauses, folding his arms with a grin. "You're a good person, Moon."_

 _"I suppose so. A queen can't save everyone, but I can at least save who I can, right?"_

 _"I wouldn't know. You're the princess."_

 _"Right. So, pick a bunch of Peebles. The moment they start searching for him, we'll run and throw rocks at them as quick as we can."_

 _"You got it, Princess."_

 _Moon silently smiles, before nudging with her head to her surroundings, Rafael picking the cue and running towards their surroundings. With a breath, she calms her nervousness and nods. Yep, they'll manage it._

x -

Gold Teeth can only shake on his actual, existing boots at the lines of very much pissed off crew members. Many of them holding different rubble parts, and having varying degrees from menacing stares; some murderous, while other...well...cannibalistic. But, above all, they're very harmed, very hurt...and very, very pissed.

"A-ayy maties? I know this sounds really, really weird, but ah found t' culprit! That gremlin-" He turns, already scowling...then blinking as a certain green diminutive is gone. He turns at them, looking surprised...and the crowd is close. Way, way too close.

"So that's a mutiny, huh? Ah always knew e' scurvy monsters would turn against me someday. Well, if y'all want ah piece o' this captain, then come at me!" He screams, kicking sand in their direction before running. He always knew it, he always knew it! They would betray him, only for a lapse of judgment! They're pirates, they always have a lapse of judgment! Bastards. Traitors!

But he always knew...he had a plan. The ship is ready to go. He'll simply pull that rope, and he'll be off! Off, and safe! But he'll come back, and when he finds those scissors again...he'll…

He'll...he'll…

...Where's the ship?

x -

 _Rafael looks nervously at the mast of the ship, looking back at Moon, who's standing at the back, holding her in her hand, and looking at the back of the ship, watching the pursuit._

 _"I've never really...drove a ship before. Are you sure it will be that easy, Moon?" He says nervously, looking at her._

 _"And I've never staged a forced mutiny takeover on the background." She turns, giving a nervous smile, and a shoulder shrug "I think we must just go with the flow!"_

 _Rafael pauses a bit, holding the mast "You know, you started really rough, proper and firm you know?"_ Moon _stays silent, but she can't help but smile._

 _"That's almost rebellious of you!"_

 _Moon pauses a bit, looking at her wand._

 _"I think...that sometimes, maybe, in situations like this, it's nice to really not be that Princess-ish." She looks at her own reflection. "What manner of Queen would I be, if I couldn't improvise?"_

 _Rafael sighs, and speaks again "Can I say something Moonie?"_

 _She blinks and nods "Sure, what."_

 _"I think you need to be more you, and less the mold of Queen. Don't think what the Queen...like...you would be, but what you would be?"_

 _Moon raises an eyebrow before she notices the racket, and Captain in the distance. She gasps, wincing at the impact, and turning to Rafael, nodding._

 _"We'll talk this later, Moon."_

 _"Sure sure, Raf. Get ready!"_

Moon _turns towards their direction, and the moment Golder Teeth takes a turn back to acknowledge the rioting mob, she casts the whip spell, and throws it at the goblin's direction, silently controlling and praying that she can pull that off._

 _Snatch. She does a might pull upwards, sending him into the air and towards them. At the peak of the goblin's arc, she points the wand again._

 _"_ Levitato _!"_

 _As the goblin stops, she turns to the sail, pointing her wand at the sail._

 _"Windy...wind wand...blast...thi- OH TO CORN WITH IT, REALLY STRONG WIND!"_

 _She really should have articulated better. That was a really strong wind._

x -

Gold teeth look at the place that did host his own ship. Now empty. Now devoid of anything. He wants to scream, to rage, to curse revenge at that goblin, who stole all from him. But...all he feels is the dread. The pressure behind him, as he feels his crowd gaze weight on his shoulder.

He doesn't need to acknowledge or face them.

"Alright, you sea whores. Do yer worst!"

With a scream and his pipe, he turns towards the crowd.

He doesn't last long, to say the least.

x -

After all that excitement, now it's a fairly more tranquil ambiance for them. After getting a good distance, she pulled the floating goblin back towards them, and Rafael could catch the speeding monster on his chest...even if it will likely bruise. He was extremely thankful, and such...for one side, a monster...or dimensional equivalent being thankful for her was odd but...it did bring a smile to her face.

Overall, the trip was really uneventful; the plan to return was simple, now that they did have a travel method. She actively remembers the portal NOT closing, that has a distinct sound, so perhaps it's still there...stable.

Of course, bringing that to Rafael made him just question two things; one, why didn't she do that earlier, and two, if that was her big plan for a small chance, what if the portal actually closed?

Just saying that if the portal closed, they're stuck there for the time being until Hekapoo would notice and trace them, which could take from days to months was enough to put him to keep quiet. Night falls on the desert, and thankfully it's not that chilly as last time, so the both of them are simply laying against the railing of the ship, Moon pointing her wind at the sail every once in a while and Rafael holding her to steady her aim. She feels rough, hurt, dirty...but comfy and pleased, as she holds her knees with her arms on a sitting position, Rafael being more inclined to just spread his legs.

Moon is content on that until he clears his throat.

"What I said earlier...do you remember it?"

"I do."

"What do you think?"

Moon keeps silent, looking down on the ground, frowning deep in thought.

"I...think that...Moon...well me, but the person you know? All my life, the moment I started to think, I knew I would be queen. Like, a certainty in my life. Air is good, water is wet, Moon Butterfly will be the Queen of Mewni."

She stops a bit, looking on the skies. Rafael closes his eyes, tilting his head.

"Maybe you should think of that, you know."

"Moon isn't necessary for the Kingdom of Mewni. The Princess is."

"Would the Princess steal a pirate ship?"

"..."

"Moon. You're one of my best friends. I know I'm a bit...stupid, I'm not blind. I can be silly. I can be passionate, intense about my art and craft, and I won't ever tell anyone not to be otherwise."

Rafael turns to her, holding his hand.

"But how can you do a great job as a title, as a job, if you don't really know who the person with the title is? You talk a lot about posture, about how a queen acts...but is it what you are, or what you feel expected to?"

"..."

"You're not a rebel princess from another dimension, I truly believe that a lot of mannerisms are Moon. But you had fun today, you know? Maybe you should look at having fun more. Cutting loose, you're being held to no one right now."

"I will be."

"That day is not today, and you know it."

He gets up, yawning.

"How long will it take until we get to the portal?"

"I think four hours, give or take. Took us a day to get to Junktown, didn't it?"

"Sounds about right. Want to take a nap?"

"...yeah."

Moon relaxes, laying her head against the railing and closing her eyes.

Moon is a Princess, but who is Moon? She...really can't say. That's food for thought.

Maybe over sleep, she'll get an answer. Maybe…

May...be...zzzzz…

..

..

As Moon falls in a nap, and Rafael gets up to the mast, cracking his neck, as well as the goblin also deep asleep inside a barrel, none of them notice a silent, hooded hand gripping the side of the railing. This shadowed, clocked being climbs on the ship, squatting on the railings, looking over the Sleeping Moon. A bit of the moonlight illuminates the stranger face, as they pick a metallic, sharp looking dimensional scissor with their hands. Gripping both handles, the figure snaps it swiftly, holding two halves of it. One, she pockets for herself, and the other she smoothly walks towards the barrel, dropping the other half of the key inside of it, not bothering the sleep of the goblin.

The figure takes a deep breath, extending her arm to the moonlight. Black covered skin, with veins pop up, almost pulsating, extending from her hand to the entirety of the arm.

Shaking their head, and covering the hand back within the clock, they pick their own half of the scissors, making a single smooth slash, and jumping inside of it.

"...hmm...no mama...Junktown ain't a phase...zzz…."

* * *

 **Sorry for the stupidly long delay! I've gone through a surgery, and together with my university, I had to sit down and work on stuff. Suffice to say, I have no excuses anymore. I can't promise weekly, they'll come as they'll come. But, you can be certain I'll finish this story! Don't forget to rate and review!**

 **Fireeeware out!**


	12. Waterless Waterloo

**_Alright, the finale of the Desert Arc! Questions will be asked, revelations be made, and some small answers start to sprout of the woodwork! I hope you all enjoy as much as I enjoyed making it! Now for the reviews..._**

 **The-Yodahawk**

 **Ah shucks, thanks 3**

 **allen Vth**

 **Who knows? Maybe that's not the last time we'll see Golden Teeth!**

 **Nah, it probably is.**

 **Regigimass**

 **And *I* thank you for being the inspiration for me to get myself in gear and continue this story!**

 **Soo...how's that Season 4 sneak peek eh? Got an idea for a story...**

 **Edit: Ruberiot is not Rhombulus. I'm so sorry.**

* * *

 _Moon isn't someone to say hate lightly, be it in personal surroundings, as well as officially; hate is a very strong word, directed simply towards the most heinous of acts, situations and or people. Moon doesn't hate Monsters, despite everything; many knights would cockily say that, and many do right now, in this wide room._

 _Moon doesn't hate Eclipsa. All queens are taught that Eclipsa, Queen of Darkness, of the forbidden arts, fled from her responsibilities and Mewni, together with her own recently born daughter, future queen Festivia the Fun, and her husband for a scandalous, balance breaking marriage with a Monster. Such was the heresy, the absurdity of the fact, that a leader would throw it all to the Monsters, that his name was all but erased from registries, associated thrown in the darkest of dungeons, and both of them imprisoned, separated._

 _For her crimes, Festivia the Fun had a heavy weight on her shoulders, as the shock of her crime left the morale and the population shocked, and the venomous, opportunistic Monsters took the chance to have a go towards our Kingdom, to submit and enslave our wonderful people. In this darkest hour, in her own pain over her mother's sins did Festivia took the charge, and if she wasn't to be a warrior, she would be a poet and a bringer of sunshine and joy to a Kingdom headless. Her open parties, her flaunting of the Kingdom's riches to the damned invaders, her personal visits to warriors of the War held the line of Mewni survival against the hordes, who simply tired after a while, finally leaving the kingdom at a tense peace...one she would sadly, only live through her descendant and successor...Justin the Queen Boy._

 _She really did try. 7 boys. So much for the first "King"._

 _This idea, of simply throwing away the legacy of the butterflies abhors her. Why would she, why would someone be so selfish, so self-entitled to leave their people for a life of self-indulgence? Festivia hated her, and even on her deathbed, did she curse her mother for all the pain, all the suffering, all the lost lives, a spot of spite of a Queen whose heart were as gold as her love and as overflowing with alcohol as her liver, possibly._

 _Or so the narrative goes. About hatred of course, not about being an alcoholic. There is living proof in her blood...Festivia never took a king, and the boy children were fairly different from each other._

 _Yikes. She's digressing even in her own mental monologues._

 _To hate the Monsters, that only bring us curses, troubles, and suffering. To hate Eclipsa, for her crimes and dark arts are a taint upon our lineage. To hate the Dark Arts, for they lead astray, to a path of selfishness and indulgence. A princess is better than that, a royal is better than that._

 _..._

 _Then why can't she?She feels she should hate them, but she really can't. Is that something wrong with her, downright fundamentally? Is she another Eclipsa in the making? Will one day, Moon Butterfly the VERY BAD QUEEN will too have a bad taste in the family, and her descendants will look back on her with the same amount of disdain as Eclipsa?_

 _No! She'll be a perfect Queen! The model, the standard of all Queens to be! Perfect, prissy and beautiful, every detail must be perfect, every crook of her persona ought to be void of any imperfection!_

 _There's no space for Moon, she must keep the legacy! The role! The_ impor _-_

 _\- X -_

"...No, I don't really hate them."

Moon is standing currently on the kitchen, her hair braided onto cute little violet bows, as well as her royal, magnanimous, seven-year-old kid dress. The chefs around Comet look fairly distraught and anxious, constantly twitching, begging the Queen to not put manual work and do their job. Foolish, no chef, no matter how magnanimous or genius, can even get close get close to how delicious, and yummy the food her Mother makes.

"But why wouldn't you? The monsters are all meanies, all bad people!"

She beats her palms against the table, half "enraged" and half desperately wanting to eat her mother's pie. It's right there, heated, delicious, ripe for the taking! But momma wants her to wait to cool down! That's not fair, hot pie is the best pie.

"Hmmm. Do you know every monster, Moon?"

"Hmm...no. But I hate them. They probably are as bad and mean!"

Comet chuckles humorously, taking the baking gloves, and flexing her palms, a faint icy blue outline on them as she starts creating a light cool breeze on them. Moon frowns, folding her arms on a cute pout.

"But, what if I was a Monster, would you hate me?"

Moon freezes a bit, head tilting, frowning even more.

"That's just unfair. There's no one like you momma!"

"Who knows! The multiverse is far and wide, Moonie. Maybe some monster makes some delicious pies too!"

"Un uh!" She shakes her head, almost giving her whiplash, to the delightful giggle from her mother. After being satisfied with the cooling of the pie, she picks up a knife, cutting dainty the crust, with two slices of pies, one large for her and the smaller one for Moon, who is now clapping her hands in excitement; the plate already being jumped by a ravenous Moon the moment the china even land on the floor. She quite clearly giggles, reaching to her table and picking a silk cloth.

"Moonie, manners~!" She singly speaks, as Moon looks up horrified, then groans as Comet wipes her mouth. The kid now puts the impression, puffing her chest and picking the for with her index and thumb, giving Comet another small giggle fit.

"But yeah...would you hate me if I was a Monster?"

"No, of course. You're mom! Not a meanie Monster!"

"But what if I wasn't a mewman, but a-"

"Nuh uh, you're mom! Not a Monster!"

"But can't be monsters be mommies too?"

"But you're mommy, they're mommy is not like my mommy!"

Comet sighs, but smiles, simply enjoying her daughter.

\- X -

 _I never really got why she kept defending monsters. Despite all the trouble they brought for us and Mewni, she was always about cooperation with them. She couldn't ever be truly public about it, Corn forgives, the other kingdoms and our nobles would just think of her as insane, but mother really just pushed against this narrative, in her subtle way._

 _In a way, no matter how much I work on me, she'll always be the model in how to be a queen for me._

 _In a way, so is my efforts to be a model of a Queen pointless? Should I really focus on being Moon?_

 _Does_ Mewni _really need Moon?_

 _I don't know. I really don't know…Oh wait, this is a dream rig-_

\- O -

Moon groggily wakes up, rubbing sand off of her face, and wincing as the harsh desert sun glares its brightness on her eyes. She takes some time to adjust, rubbing her eyes, and holding her wand, speaking a quick Levitato spell almost lazily, floating herself to a standing position before cutting the flow. Now that the sun isn't just stabbing her poor retina with rusted knives, she can take the sight around her.

The old decrepit ship definitely looks like it had better days, the creaking, one step away to rotting wood being assaulted by years of saltwater and salt...sand. The deck is filled with cannons and ropes, typical pirate equipment, and the sail is thankfully spotless, not a single significant hole puncturing it. The ship is almost eerily empty, considering the crew went from a fair dozen to just three people: The goblin, Ste...steee...she really should ask the name later, but nonetheless he's cleaning the floors with a mop, and on the front of the ship, she can see Rafael holding the wheel, shirtless as always. Giving a final brush on her dre- well...more like Junktown "memoirs", she climbs up towards Rafael, climbing the creaky stairway to the front of the ship, hearing him whistle some sort of Shanty Sea song, and clearing her throat

"Ahoy, how goes our travel captain?" She speaks on the posh tone, but the smile on her expression betrays her true expression as Rafael turns, giving a toothy grin. He turns back to the wheel, managing his wheel, and giving his best pirate speech.

"Ahoy Princess, we'll be reachin' th' port o' Outta Here in 10 or 20 minutes! If I squit me eyes, I reckon I can even see a wee glow!"

She hmms loudly, using her hand to shade her eyes against the sun as she looks in the distance. Indeed, that rock's still there and if she focuses hard enough...yes, that green glow. A little more, and they'll get free! She grins, but jumps a bit and grunts as the Goblin rushes, climbing on his back and pointing excitedly.

"IsthatitisthatitIsthatitisthatitIsthatitisth **atiIsthatitisthatit**?"

He's subsequently pushed off quite roughly from Moon, who turns to him with an annoyed glare.

"Do you mind?"

What surprises her is basically the moment the goblin bows and starts...praising?

 _ **"Oh, righteous savior of Junktown, I'm not worthy of thine presence, or to even touch your holy flesh. The Shepard guides the flock to freedom, yet this humblest of servants, to even dare to intrude upon your**_ sanc _ **-"**_

Moon keeps looking, her eyes pretty much glazed and her mouth on a thin straight line as the goblin keeps mouthing words of praise, of love, of downright cultism over Moon. He never stops. He isn't even breathing to speak.

It's really scary.

At a point, she felt Rafael's hand, and shake of his head. Nodding, both of them turn to the horizon, ignoring the crazed ramble on the back.

"I think people are going to be a lot worried when we get back home."

"It is to be expected of such, as we both disappeared for two days."

"Really, two days? Haven't really felt it at all…"

"I suppose it's the effect of the adrenaline washing on our body and survival instincts overwhelming a more efficient track of time mentally."

"You barely even knew what adrenaline was before school for starters."

"No, Mewmans did _*have*_ the word for that, but not the glandular substance. Or at least the knowledge of it, really, regarding medicine we are really behind. But we do have magical substances that skip the whole "Messing with substances that definitely poison to make them not poison."

"So, you're against the whole pharmacological industry?" Rafael speaks.

"I do think they have a very huge monopoly on Earth, but it's the by the tract of the economic system, isn't it?"

"...I'm really trying to have a normal conversation with you, but you use these words and I just get really confused" Rafael chuckles, but his face morphs into a frown as he squeezes his eye to look at the distance better.

"Well, if you would study more, you wouldn't be having trouble with this level of a casual dialogue-" Moon speaks, smugly, before noticing the change in her friend's posture. She walks a bit closer, looking at his side.

"Is...that a cloud of dust? Moving?"

"...oooh this is- agh!"

The duo jumps, the sounds of something impacting on the ship, and the creak of wood being broke. Barely any time is given to rationalize what is happening before a shill, girly screech comes from their diminutive passenger.

 **"T-t-t-t-they're heeeeeree, agaiiiiiiinnnnn!"**

"W-what?" Moon turns, almost dizzying herself, but, despite all the odds, she can see the crew they thought they left long ago. Reptile, minotaurs, crabs climb up the ship, 6 of them so far, with malicious grins and scars. In retrospect, as she looks on their back, she can see a dozen more dust cloud growing in the distance. Somehow, by some manner, they caught up...and they don't look amused at all, as they walk menacingly with their claws, and other strippes metal pieces from Junktown.

Rafael turns, frowning "Hey little man, can you pilot this ship?"

"I am not a man! I'm a proud goblin, my name is St-"

 _"No importa!"_ Rafael screams, picking the goblin and all but shoving him against the wheel, the Goblin looking fairly panicked, but indeed holding the wheel, teeth clacking in nervousness as he goes to the left stair area.

"Moon, take the right!"

Moon nods stoically, but inside she's a mess. So soon from the familiar attack, and she's already roped into another fight? The whole point of this was, up and above, to avoid the situation she even got in the first place!

Why can't she get a break?

Moon rushes to the right side of the Staircase, Monsters already climbing. Moon points her wands at them, a determined expression on her face.

 **"Blast!"**

A wave of magic washes over them, sparkling blue like water...and nothing. Even they stand there, confused for a moment, before grinning and climbing again.

"What? I meant, Blast! Blast! **BLAS-** "

The wand finally understands the meaning, but Moon's crippled imagination strikes again, making a virtual blast. As in, a complete blast. Explosion.

Well, it works. The monsters are pushed back...but so is she, who is sent spinning ahead of them.

"Moon!"

"Goddess!"

" **Can you not?** "

While the two of them bicker, Moon feels again as she's blasted in another deadly situation, that inner peace and focus strike, even if she feels her stomach spinning. Oh, if she had ANYTHING on it, it probably would have been even grosser.

As it stands, she must quickly rationalize. They're being boarded, somehow by the same pirates from earlier. They, most likely, want the ship back. Is that captain even alive, to tell them they stole it? Unlikely, he's...well, she doesn't want to think on that, but they probably put 2 and 2 together. They know about the fake scissors? If they could squeeze that out of the captain, it does seem out there.

She can't even really glance at the distance from the portal, but she would wager...five...seven minutes? That's around the time they should hold. If they can even climb the dune with their speed, she can squeeze the rest, she's sure...but only if she can get back. Her whip spell won't reach the ship at this height, and if she falls in the sands, the glider ship will outspeed her, and she'll be stuck…

She needs to think...think...th-

As a cheap solution to the plot, with a metal glint, shining, amongst pieces of a broken barrel, is the half of a scissor. She would almost brush as being part of her fake scissors, but...hers were made of literal trash. This one is spiky, grey and definitely the real deal. She can see, and sense it.

The usage of a shattered, half of a dimensional scissors is reckless, dangerous, and unstable. The portal can't cut through the dimensions really well, and only somewhat reliably open a portal within the same dimension. It can, and will eventually, get you stuck in a limbo, the space between two portals, and each cut is virtually a gamble.

By all logic, if Moon were in a situation just a little less stressful, or weren't so "in the zone", she would have just let it go past and think of something else. But as it stands, however…

Gripping the glade by its sole handle, like a knife, she cuts a single portal at her back, imagining the deck as strong as she possibly can, before entering.

\- O -

Rafael gasps, gritting his teeth as he sees her best friend spinning in the air. The work did its job, and Moon did knock out the three Monsters climbing from her side, but the ship, already frail from the time here, had at least half of the front deck collapse due to the blast, cracks widening, going down all the way to the hull. Rafael isn't no ship expert, but the sound of the cracks not stopping is a very, very bad sign.

The radius of the blast knocked him almost overboard, only his hand gripping the rail in time to hold on. The monsters on the left weren't as lucky, being tossed aboard. Now, that would be excellent news, if it weren't two other gliders, on the left and right to the other side of the ship, the body being pieces of salvage and the sail made of sawn together cloth, to be speeding and using some sort of spear and rope to latch on the ship, as the monsters start to climb the hull. Grimacing, Rafael climbs up back, silently thankful for all the gym lessons.

Yeah, it's really bad, they're climbing. Rafael rushes back, getting his balance as the front of the ship is starting to cave in.

"Ste, you still can guide the ship?" He grimaces, starting to pick a few of the barrels that weren't broken in the blast.

"It's not Ste! It's...agh, nevermind. Just a little bit, the front of the ship will collapse soon!"

"Moon really needs to come back! If the front collapses before we're in the air, the ship will just break away like effervescent inside water on a flu day!"

"What kind of comparison is even _that_ \- Besides, the goddess is gone! She's ascended, together with the other Junktown citizens...as a-"

"First, cut that out. Second, she'll come. I'm sure of it."

"How can you be so sure? We're screwed, we're **_screeeeeweeed!_ "** He starts to bawl

Rafael chuckles a bit at his almost despairing tone, as he does his best imitation of Donkey Kong and starts throwing barrels at the incoming Monsters. Sadly, they aren't breaking like he would see on the G.I Joe cartoons, but they were keeping most of them at bay...at least until he ran outta barrels.

"For someone that praises her like a **goddess,** you truly don't know Moon, compadre." He speaks, almost wistfully, despite the tense circumstance they're all in "That girl is going to be Queen. She wouldn't let a simple explosion stop her...I can say that with as much certainty as I'm going to be an artist…"

"...I'm pretty sure that's from a romance book."

"Another peep and I'll punt you."

He's manly. A man model for all men. Men do not READ ROMANCE NOVELS!

...at least not openly. What? The stories always make him cry!

A sound of paper-tearing with...pixie dust? Closest he can think of pixie dust echoes in the ship, drawing everyone's attention for a moment. And just in time, Moon comes, as Rafael knew she would...but from a portal? What? Moon can make portals? Then why are they wasting their time here? The monsters are too stunned by the sudden event, giving all three of them a little breathing moment.

She comes, with an overly dramatic entrance, a dropkick in the back of one of the Monster Crabs, sending him right overboard. It would have been almost cool if she weren't clearly wincing and rubbing her feet.

"Moon, you could always make portals?!"

"It's complicated!"

"Why can't you **JUST MAKE A PORTAL BACK HOME THEN!** "

"It's complicated!"

" **JUST ANSWER.** "

Sure, the monsters are now catching up their senses and preparing to continue the pressure, but still! That's absurd!

"I swear I will when I get back home! Just, what's the situation!" She gets up, putting a little more weight on the other foot, wincing but weaving around the monsters claws, fists, and rusted swords.

"The ship is going to be collapsing really soon if you can't hear the cracks!" Rafael exclamates, waving his hands around and picking another barrel to throw at a monkey monster who got too close.

Moon looks around, and winces yet again, this time about the really audible cracks. Thaaat's no good. That's no good at all.

They don't have enough speed to climb the dune towards the portal, not with how things are...she'll probably need to do that again. And there's no guarantee she can pull off that again. She looks at the half of the scissors she's holding and releases a sigh.

"Rafael, hold up! I'm about to do something really stupid!"

"Since when are you the reckless one?!" She doesn't listen to him as starts running towards the mast of the ship, to Rafael protests.

Who is Moon, huh? Would mom do stuff like this? A pirate attack? Rely on faulty, broken scissors that came from absolutely *nowhere*, besides the fact she's already lucky to be in the same place and not some lost dimension?

She runs to the mast, seeing the cracks already expanding on it. Many monsters keep aiming at her, and Moon simply focuses...Left, right, down, roll, middle, jump. Expertly weaving the desperate beasts, her muscular memory already used with the number of monsters she already had to deal everytime River dragged her and Dirt into something. A bear-like monster runs at her, and she whips her wand again, expanding it into a staff, and with a twirl, clubbing him in the forehead, making him drop on the ground with a nasty goose egg. She jumps on him, pointing her wand and muttering a quick Levitato. As a board, the monster starts to fail, and Moon valiantly keeps balancing herself, floating towards the sail. As she's in line, she holds the wand in front of her, taking a huge breath.

I guess Moon is someone really reckless, isn't she?

"really really really reAlly REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY…"

"Oh...no she's doing that again…"

"Doing wh-"

The Gremlin gives another girly screech as Rafael immediately rushes towards him,grabbing him by the skull then holding him under his arm, and blatantly ignoring his protests and running for his life towards the mast, tackling any of the invaders out of the way, and hugging the mast for his life.

"Ouch!"

"Agh!"

"MY LEG!"

For a moment, the wind and the noise stop, pressure building in her wand and trembling in her arms. Wind visibly start gathering around the heiress, as she can barely hold the pressure...gritting her teeth and closing her eyes, she finishes the incantation with a scream.

 _ **"STRONG WIND!"**_

The blast of wind coming from the wand is enough to deafen even the most inattentive monsters, as Rafael and Moon's #1 Fan look in horror as they can't even see the princess near the sail anymore, as if she was disintegrated by the wind's strength

Mewmians are generally harder than humans, thankfully. Princess and queens especially so, considering their unique condition. Because she's pretty sure, she messed her shoulder really bad, and almost feel like screaming, as she's basically catapulted skyward, yet again, the monster that was her unofficial platform screaming even louder as he's blasted away, much like his compatriots; the ship, that was cracking before, doesn't stand a chance and starts being broken apart by the sheer pressure of the wind, somehow, the front ship being basically splitters and the back being torn apart to the same extent. The angle of the wind makes the broken carcass start to spin, as Rafael holds for his dear life, both of them screaming loudly.

Moon holds her best against unconsciousness, the edges of her vision blurring in dark due to the speed and altitude. If she falls unconscious now, she's as good as done. Mustering the last of her strength, and what little she can even focus on the ship, she does another cut through the dimension.

x -

She's in a void. Even as her muscles and body scream of exhaustion, she can acknowledge that. Her momentum is kinda lost there, not fully but enough to not be a complete mewmian ballistic missile. As she takes her surroundings, she does notice something…

Ms. Hekapoo and Mr. Rhombulus are jumping around the small blocks of rock across this void; she's constantly teleporting in and out with her scissors, and he's is with his snake-hands on his head, constantly blasting his crystals on a figure. It's a hooded figure, a light-dark grey tattered cloth, akin to the swamp dwellers from Mewni. The face is hidden on a veil of madness, but she can see both of his clawed, purple obsidian clawed arms. In the center of one, however, she can see a...star?

Maybe. She isn't sure, the shape is blurry, and her vision is darkening. She tries to muster the strength for another portal...but...but…

She can't…

Even as her vision blur in basic shapes, the last thing she remembers is the sound of scissors, a portal opening, and a push on her.

Probably Ms. Hekapoo's clones. Ooooh, Mother is going to be so upset about seeing her back, but at least Rafael will be okay...She'll see if she can give his abuella a job in Mewni, so they can't be apart…

That's what a Quee- no, what she would do.

x -

Rafael has barely any time to even prepare, watching the place Moon were with a broken heart, as the speed and the ship hold enough to climb the dune and make itself apart...the ship turns into basically splinters, sending flying, in the right direction, however. Indeed, the portal is there, but quite smaller than it used to be...he'll need to enter in an angle. Aligning himself like a dive, he grimaces, trying not to think of his best friend…

Who is now falling from another, dark-magenta like portal, unconscious. Thousands of question swarms his head, but he quickly pushes them off; he will ask later, as he extends another arm in a stiff arm fend, grabbing Moon, and in the last possible second, adjusting her, as they enter the narrow portal.

They're spat out by the road, the same place they entered before, and roll on the ground, losing momentum progressively...after a while, they finally stop, as Rafael winces and pulls them both, hitting his back against a tree. The pain is sharp, and he feels...something on his head. Like a withdrawal, all that adrenaline and tension leaves, leaving his body utterly exhausted...he didn't sleep the last night, guiding the ship, and right now, even if he would try, he can't move a single limb. But if he falls unconscious...in a forest...that's really, really dangerous. No…

Oh, wait...a lantern. A search party? Yeah, they've been disappeared for two days, weren't they? As the light gets near him, he can't help but give a pleased, thankful smile, before too falling unconscious, finally feeling he can rest.

"Rafael! Moon!...and a goblin?"

"It's Stevenson!" The Goblin groggily says, his eyes twirl.

x -

 _Beep...beeep….beeeep…_

Hospitals aren't something that exists in Mewni, at least not in the concept that Earth. They're normally more rustic, and...traditional. Machines, IVs and those grey-white, blocky machines with valves and turns are simply alien to her. Even as her vision returns, she acknowledges pretty quickly that she's not in Mewni.

"Heeey Moonie. Not looking really sharp, aren't ya?"

She winces, the voice giving a headache both metaphorically, and literally...yet, she can't help but giggle, turning towards the voice. Sky, the Rainbow Haired girl that brings her nothing but headaches, and mental stigmas: She's wearing a dirty apron, multi-colored, as well as her clothes and gloves...it's a wonder the hospital even allowed her to get inside, much less like this; she's wearing a toothy grin, tilting her head, waiting for an answer…

"Agh...hey Sky. You didn't set my...room on fire, didn't you?" She talks, almost kiddingly, before her face loses a bit of the smile, as she acknowledges of the very real possibility of her doing something like that "Please, please tell me you didn't."

"You ruined my piece of art back then, but I'm not a revengeful girl" She extends her palms, almost disarmingly so. "Glossaryck been marathoning some old VHS in my van, if that's what you're curious. He must have rewatched Dallas twice now, at this point!"

Moon groans. Yeah. The Training.

"He'll be so disappointed in me…"

"I don't think Glossaryck can really even be disappointed. But very snarky? Yep."

Moon looks around, seeing Rafael on her side. He seems asleep, bandages covering him. She looks at herself, noticing the same situation.

"Found you both, when I heard some weird noises...you both looked just like the metaphor of what capitalism does to society." She begins, waving her palm "Truly inspiring really. Hugging together, as the society just grinds and rubs you against the dirt-"

"Sky."

"Aaaaanyway. I've found you both, with a very weird green man. He talked about what happened t' you both, so don't worry about repeating the story. After a while, I've sent the call to the police, and the ambulance. Sooo here we are."

Moon rubs her temple, as a light frown comes to her "Isn't my ID and stuff fake?"

"You shouldn't worry about it."

"But-"

"Your best friend covered it fer ya, don'tcha worry" She winks, as she looks at the door opening. A very old lady, barely 1.50m, with an afro and the thickest glasses she's seen comes, a wide grin on her expression and a plate of steamy, creamy nachos.

"¡Así que eres la hermosa joven a la que mi hijo Rafael ha estado hablando tanto!"

The old lady speaks, giggling, and laying the plate of nachos on the side. She looks at her again, her eyes basically tiny dots.

"¡Este hospital de alimentos es simplemente débil! ¡Aquí, querida, tienes algo de comida realmente sabrosa! Estarás justo aquí con estos nachos ~"

Moon looks at the steamy, delicious and at some point bubbling plate of nachos with Chili. Even if she never had it before, something about its aura...it's gravity. It demanded consumption.

"But...that looks so fat!"

"You shouldn't worry about it."

"But-"

"Your bestest BFF friend forever has it covered, don't you worry!" Sky gets up, picking one of the nachos and rubbing on the chili sauce, holding towards Moon "Say aaaahhh~" She says, holding laughter clearly, as Moon just stares at her.

She did try. She did find it delicious. She wonders how Hekapoo even knew she even was, or the timing to drop her off. She wonders why she didn't just send her to her mother and end her worries. Was it even Hekapoo who helped her? Was it Rhombulus?

Was it the cloaked figure? But why…

Wow, these "nachos plates" are wonderful! But...she legitimately wondered how the hospital personnel even authorized both of them, especially a plate like that.

...Well, that's something that Queen Moon should worry. Moon will just take another nacho now.

Hospitals are great!

* * *

 **No they aren't Moon. No they aren't. Don't forget to review and stuff! Svtfoe is owned by Disney.**


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